Find Neighborhood Crime, Sex Offenders in Los Altos Online

From time to time, the need to know your neighbors comes up and you may not always hear about crime that happens in your neighborhood.

For example on Feb. 11 in the 1000 block of Border Road, a burglar call came into the Santa Clara County Sherif's Department, while on Feb. 20 and 22 there were petty theft reports on Fremont Road and at Rancho shopping center, according to the CrimeReports.com.

The sex offender registry is public record, and new neighbors are legally supposed to announce themselves as sex offenders if they've been convicted, but that may not always happen. You can look it up on your own at the California Attorney General's Megan's Law website.

The websites are a great resource for local crime data and information on registered sex offenders in California.

The public and police departments use them to show community members where crimes are taking place, where offenders live, and their identities.

But even in places outside local police departments' jurisdictions, the websites have mapped the addresses, names and photos of sex offenders in the entire country. 

When you search CrimeReports.com map, sex offenders are denoted by red triangles. Orange triangles symbolize two sex offenders living at one address. The site allows you to click on the triangles to see details on the offenders.

In Los Altos, the Megan's Law website shows a total of six sex offenders, four in the 94022 ZIP code, and two in the 94024 ZIP code.

Not every registered sex offender will appear on the Megan's Law web site, the state Department of Justice says. Approximately 25 percent of registered sex offenders cannot be posted online by law, based on the type of sex crime for which the person is required to register.

Do you worry about crime nowadays? Do you use the tools available to learn more about what is happening, where it's taking place, or who might live near you? Tell us in the comments.