NORWICH – The Chenango County Sheriff’s Department is taking an aggressive approach toward keeping track of sex offenders and informing the public of predators who may be residing nearby.

For the past two years, Sheriff Thomas J. Loughren says he has hoped to implement software that would keep better track of sex offenders and to keep the public informed. With the help of a $7,500 grant from state Assemblyman Gary Finch, he says the dream has come true.

Lt. James Lloyd said the updated, state-of-the-art tracking system could be accessible as early as December on the Sheriff’s Department website at www.chenangosheriff.us.

During a press conference held Wednesday at the Sheriff’s Department, Finch, Loughren and Chenango County District Attorney Joseph McBride gave a demonstration of the new software and recognized the people who made the new addition to the county’s existing website available.

Trying to keep up with offenders, their addresses, their places of employment and other safety details takes the department a lot of time, Loughren said. “Since we have started the sex offender registry, it has become almost full-time work,” he said. There are 123 convicted sex offenders currently residing in this county.

Keeping the public informed takes even more work, he said. With the new software, people in the community can, at no cost, register and receive automatic e-mails indicating when sexual offenders move within one mile of the address they’ve registered.