CFC OKLAHOMA

Sex Offender Camp Might Impact Tourism

www.justnews.com/news/19984099/detail.html


MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- The shantytown of paroled sex offenders living under and along the Julia Tuttle Causeway is getting international publicity, which could hurt South Florida's tourism industry.

Tourists to Miami Beach who travel to and from the airport using the Julia Tuttle Causeway now see a community of tents, which they might not know is part of the sex offenders' encampment.

Local laws keep paroled sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of places where children congregate, and many say they have no alternative but to live under the bridge.

"I wouldn't want to be around that. I wouldn't want them around my children," said a man named Danny who is visiting from New York.

Some locals might not even understand what the town of tents is. On Tuesday, some fathers brought their children to fish near the bridge and let the children run around unsupervised, Local 10's Glenna Milberg reported.

As the tent city grows, so might a public relations nightmare on an international tourism scale.

The British Broadcasting Corp. profiled the camp, describing it as a "human dumping ground." Newsweek magazine is just one publication reporting on the settlement, and several documentaries are in the works.

"We're kind of watching and waiting," said Miami Beach City Manager Jorge Gonzalez.

The tourist dependent city of Miami Beach has no control over the state property in the city of Miami where the sex offenders are living. However, a past mayor of Miami Beach started the charge to increase the buffer zones for sex offenders.

"From a public safety perspective, the more that are there, the more we need to make sure we monitor who is there and what are they doing when they're not there," Gonzalez said. "From our economics and our economy of tourism, we're trying to make sure that we're not seeing an adverse impact to our visitors and our tourists that are coming here."

Even with all the unintended consequences, there is no local politician who wants to be the first person to suggest reconsidering the buffer zones.

The city of Miami is considering a lawsuit over the camp and plans to discuss it at the next commission meeting.