TAMPA, Fla. — On North Nebraska Avenue, there are a few homes that neighbors in V.M. Ybor say have created a "clustering of sexual predators."
Since certain convicted sex offenders are prohibited from living 1,000 feet away from things like parks, playgrounds, or schools, the Florida Department of Corrections has only identified three areas in Tampa with low-income housing where these offenders are eligible to live.
One of those places is in V.M. Ybor, so dozens of these sexual offenders are ending up on the same block.
“It's not our responsibility as a neighborhood to deal with this problem,” one neighbor said during a Tampa City Council meeting. “I'm sure there are solutions. I know that this is a complex problem.”
That complexity is why the city brought in University of South Florida professor Bryanna Fox to take a look at solutions the city can consider. Fox presented a study on sex offenders in the area, taking a look at whether registry restrictions reduce sex offending in the city.
At the meeting, she said creating “re-entry” plans for those convicted offenders before they're released from jail or prison can help prevent them from getting out and re-offending.
Now, the council is planning to look more closely at the problem to work on implementing policies that can help prevent the convicts from re-offending, as well as looking for housing solutions that would help prevent neighborhoods from having such a high density of sex offenders.
"Advocate for a more equitable distribution, a more regional approach to this," one neighbor said.