Every time a sex offender moves to town, Sgt. Tony Sirianni is among the first to say welcome.

Welcome, and don't screw up. Sirianni offers a handshake and strict instructions on what the sex offender or predator must do to avoid a felony charge for failing to comply with the state's sex offender registry laws.

And under a program ordered by the City Commission, officers in Sirianni's specialized unit knock on sex offenders' doors once a month and make sure they are living at the same home, driving the same car and working at the same place as they had reported to the state.

"We don't mess around," said Sirianni, who supervises the traffic and neighborhood stabilization unit that is responsible for the face-to-face checks on the convicted rapists and child molesters. "They all know what kind of tightrope they walk on."

Such programs, while not mandated by law, were a reaction to several highly publicized child abductions and killings in Florida, from Carlie Brucia to Jessica Lunsford.

Unrelenting reminders

The house calls are not intended to harass the offenders who have already completed their sentences, police say. But discouraging them from living here, where the number of sex offenders per capita is higher than anywhere else in Sarasota County, is an extra benefit, they say.

For Glen Simms, 36, the status checks are a regular reminder of what he says was a case of bad judgment seven years ago involving his boss' 17-year-old daughter.

Simms moved with his wife to North Port after serving jail time in Manatee County for a charge of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.

"I'd like to put it behind me," he said Wednesday while waiting to pick up his 3-year-old daughter from day care. "Thanks to the North Port police, they remind me of it every month."

Achieving results

Just over six months into it, police have discovered several violations of the state's registry laws, but none of the offenders has been charged with a new sex crime.

The status checks are not required by state law, and few neighboring law enforcement agencies do them. A Florida law passed after Jessica Lunsford's 2005 kidnapping, rape and murder requires sex offenders and predators to check in, in person, at their local sheriff's office twice a year.

About 88 percent of offenders are in compliance with that, said Kristen Perezluha, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

She said the department does not keep data on how many local law enforcement agencies have implemented programs similar to North Port's, but such approaches seem to be on the rise.

"It's definitely great to have agencies closely monitoring the sex offenders and predators who reside in their jurisdiction," Perezluha said. "It definitely helps to be vigilant."

A sex offender, according to Florida law, is anyone convicted of a sex crime, though some convicted before 1993 are not in the registry. Those convicted of multiple sex crimes in a certain time frame are labeled sexual predators.

Punta Gorda and Venice police also conduct monthly checks, and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office is gearing up for a similar program.

Police in Punta Gorda reported a decline in the number of offenders living there after they began their program in 2005. The small Charlotte County city never had a huge number of sex offenders, but the number did drop from five to three, said Deputy Chief Albert "Butch" Arenal.

Since then, others have moved to town, but "Most who have moved in have moved out," he said.

Police there also distribute fliers with the sex offender's picture and contact day-care centers and other facilities when one moves to town.

Sobering numbers

The number of sex offenders and predators in North Port has risen through the years as the population has exploded. At 78 sex offenders, the city has a per capita rate twice as high as in the unincorporated area of Sarasota County and four times the rate as Venice. North Port's sex offender ratio is slightly higher than in the city of Sarasota, though these numbers vary widely throughout the year as offenders are released from jail or change residences.

Police believe the abundance of affordable rental homes compared to the rest of the county probably attracts offenders to the city.

Police Officer Aaron Nick, who is part of Sirianni's unit, says many of the offenders live with relatives or have families of their own.

"The vast majority tend to be around minors," Nick said while making checks earlier this week. "That's one of the things that really struck me."

The responses Nick gets when he makes his house calls vary. Some offenders open the door with a smile; many are hostile.

"A lot of them are starting to get a little resentful of this," he said while driving away from a home. "Especially with the homicide."

After the September rape and killing of 6-year-old Coralrose Fullwood, a case which remains unsolved, Nick and his colleagues fanned out with other investigators and checked in on each of the city's offenders and predators, asking about their whereabouts during the time of the crime.

And in the nearly five months since the girl's body was found in a wooded lot in her neighborhood off Chamberlain Boulevard, investigators have been back to some of their homes seeking information.

Sirianni, whose unit also does DUI checkpoints, monitors gang and street-level activities, and does highway interdiction, says the monthly status checks could probably have the same impact if they were done less frequently. But because the community is still uneasy about the Coralrose case, it's worth it.

"The city is happy we do more than enough," he said.

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