The House of Representatives passed a bill this week to create a national registry of arsonists, a system modeled after California’s electronic database that tracks sex offenders.
The proposed registry would give law enforcement and fire officials access to a national resource cataloging convicted arsonists and bombers from every state.
While most states have their own registries, they are independent, and many do not match up with all of the requirements of the proposed database.
The system would function like the Megan’s Law sex offender registry in California, which plots convicts on online maps and lists them with photographs and information about the crimes they committed.
While that database is available to the public, the arson registry will be restricted to use by authorities.
Inspired by recent California wildfires, the proposed database will give officials the ability to compare the trends and habits of a wide range of convicts with facts from cases under investigation, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, one of the bill’s authors, said in a statement.
“The Station fire is a prime example of the devastation and destruction that arson can cause,” Schiff said. “Having worked on arson cases as a federal prosecutor, I know firsthand the potential a Megan’s Law-type registry holds to help law enforcement catch arsonists and prevent additional fires.”
Two firefighters were killed battling the 160,557-acre Station fire, which authorities believe was started intentionally. The blaze also damaged or destroyed 102 homes and 48 commercial properties.
Capturing arsonists who start wildfires could be easier if officials could easily see whether similar methods that were used to start fires under investigation were also used by convicted criminals in the past, law enforcement officials say.
“Our law enforcement and fire officials deserve this valuable tool to better prevent criminal acts of arson,” Republican Rep. Mary Bono Mack, the bill’s other author, said in a statement.
“In California, we know all too well the incalculable damage that can be caused by wildfire, and it’s always exponentially more devastating to learn that such disaster was caused at the hand of an arsonist . . . it is time we pass this legislation so that law enforcement officers can stop arsonists in their tracks and prevent unnecessary catastrophe.”
