Program: Sex Offender Registration Enforcement Team (290 Team)

Since 1947, California has required dangerous sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agencies. However, information on the whereabouts of these sex offenders was not available to the public until the implementation of the Child Molester Identification Line in July 1995. California’s Megan’s Law further expanded the information available in 1996.

Megan's Law is named after seven-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was raped and killed by a known child molester who had moved across the street from the family without their knowledge. In the wake of the tragedy, the Kanka's sought to have local communities warned about sex offenders in the area.

Now, California's Megan's Law arms the public with certain information on the whereabouts of dangerous sex offenders so those members of our local communities may protect themselves and their children. The law also authorizes local law enforcement to notify the public about high-risk and serious sex offenders who reside in, are employed in, or frequent the community.

When was the program created and why?

The San Jose Police Department’s Sex Registration Enforcement Team was originated in 1996. It is commonly referred to as the “290 Team”, in reference to California Penal Code section 290, which covers all sex registration laws.

The team is part of the Special Victims Unit. The 290 Team consists of one supervisor and two detectives. The team is committed to ensuring sex registrants living within San Jose are in compliance and take enforcement actions on those that are failing to comply. The unit works closely with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecutes cases involving sex registrants who are out of compliance.

On January 1^st, 2021, Senate Bill (SB 384) transitioned California’s lifetime sex offender registration schema to a tier-based schema. SB 384 established three tiers of registration for adult registrants to periods for 10 years, 20 years, and life, and two tiers of registration for juvenile registrants for periods of 5 years and 10 years. This new law requires the registrant to petition the Superior Court or Juvenile Court for termination of their sex offender registration requirement based on their eligible tier.

The California Department of Justice, Office of Attorney General will address any questions regarding the petition process. For more information about Senate Bill 384 (SB 384), please refer to their website at: https://oag.ca.gov/sex-offender-reg

If you are currently a registrant in Santa Clara County and you have questions or need help, contact the Santa Clara Public Defender’s Office for a free and confidential case evaluation at (408) 299-7700 or email 290Registration@pdo.sccgov.org

Our department fields one of the state’s few enforcement groups specifically dedicated to offenses directed at children involving the internet, and to its original mission involving child pornography. Ours is one of five departments in the state acting as a lead agency of surrounding law enforcement organizations in the national Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. In that role, the detail contributes to the national organization’s goals. Those include educating the public—and specifically children and their parents—on internet safety, training investigators of other agencies, pursuing leads reported through a national Cybertip clearing house, and serving as a resource to other agencies in this specialized area of investigation.

This detail is also responsible for investigating child molest cases involving institutional settings, such as schools and sports teams. At present, staffing consists of three police officer-rank computer forensic examiners.

Search State database of registered sex offenders with local maps and details.

• Search for Registered Sex Offenders in Your Neighborhood

California’s Megan’s Law allows law enforcement to notify the public of serious and high-risk sex offenders who reside in or are employed in a community. California’s Megan’s Law requires the California Department of Justice to maintain a web application containing information on serious and high-risk sex offenders. Access to the web application is mandated to be available to the public at all Sheriff’s Departments and at Police Departments in cities with a population of 200,000 or more, and through the California Department of Justice.

Information on the web application includes the high-risk or serious sex offender’s name; aliases; photograph (available on more than 65 percent of the individuals) physical description; ethnicity; date of birth; scars, marks, and tattoos; registered sex offenses; and county and zip code based on last registered address.

California's Megan's Law requires that certain information about sex offenders be made available upon request to members of the public, so that the public is better prepared to protect themselves and their children.

The intent of this information s to empower citizens with data to assist them in making informed decisions regarding personal and family safety. Civil misuse of this information may subject the person to civil damages. Anyone who uses this information contained in this database to commit a criminal act against another is subject to criminal prosecution.

Parents who are concerned regarding a potential sex offender should consider viewing the "How to Protect Yourself and Your Family" and the "Facts About Sex Offenders" sections of California's Megan's Law web site.

The California State Attorney General's Office maintains a Megan's Law Website where you can look up and report information about registered sex offenders.

We urge you to review the following:

• California's Sex Offender Publications
• CA DOj Frequently Asked Questions