Editing Long Beach, California (section)

====Restrictions on registered sex offenders====
On March 18, 2008, Long Beach became the first city in California to heavily restrict residency and visitation rights for California [[Sex offender registries in the United States|registered sex offenders]]. Triggered by a local protest of a multi-apartment dwelling which tenanted several paroled registered sex offenders, and fueled by local radio hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of [[KFI]]'s [[John and Ken]] show, city council members voted 7–0 to enact 18 ordinances, of which the most restrictive prohibits residency by all registered sex offenders, whether they are on parole or not, within {{convert|2000|ft|m}} of any child care center, public or private school, or park. [[Google Maps]] measurements indicate the total exclusion area encompasses over 96% of the area of Long Beach that is zoned for residential use. Registered sex offenders residing within the exclusion zone were given until September 2008 to vacate the restricted area. Once this happens, no sex offender will legally be able to live in the vast majority of Long Beach. While several other ordinances restrict the number of registered sex offenders who may reside in an apartment complex, there are no apartment complexes within city limits that are outside of the exclusion zone. In addition, the ordinances prohibit all registered sex offenders from using any park, beach, or facility that caters to children, such as amusement parks and restaurants with children's playgrounds, or even travel within {{convert|500|ft|m}} of such places.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lbreport.com/news/mar08/sexord2.htm | title=LBReport.com | work=Council Approves LB Muni Code Amendments Adding Sex Offender Residency/Loitering Restrictions | access-date=March 13, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081019080019/http://www.lbreport.com/news/mar08/sexord2.htm | archive-date=October 19, 2008 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_8620321 | title=Long Beach Press-Telegram, March 19, 2008 | work=Long Beach passes sex offender rules | access-date=March 20, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210085018/http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_8620321 | archive-date=December 10, 2008 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://municipalcodes.lexisnexis.com/codes/longbeach/ | title=Long Beach Municipal Code Update (PDF) | work=Ordinance No. ORD-08-0004 | access-date=April 22, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201215327/http://municipalcodes.lexisnexis.com/codes/longbeach/ | archive-date=December 1, 2008 | url-status=live }}</ref>