<p>If Georgians want to know if ex-convicts on parole live nearby, they can find out on the Know Thy Neighbor Web site.</p><p>The state Board of Pardons and Paroles created the database of 21,500 convicted felons out on parole in March. It has had more than 6 million hits by Internet users who can log on, enter a ZIP code and find the name, address, crime and other information about parolees. A recent photograph of the parolee also is available.</p><p>State Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, who asked the parole board in 1997 to create a system that would allow citizens to review information on parolees supervised in the community. Implementation was delayed until the Legislature could allocate the money.</p><p>I term it as an electronic `Neighborhood Watch, said Johnson, now also president pro tem of the Senate. It allows people in the community to either look at a specific individual, maybe someone whos offered to mow the lawn or baby-sit their kids, or a general search to see if Im living in a safe neighborhood.</p><p>Some advocates for inmates complain that the site unfairly stigmatizes men and women who are trying to get their lives back together after serving time.</p><p>I think it does more harm than good, said Dot Pinkerton, a Macon-area woman who for 24 years has operated a ministry that helps prison inmates with their transition back into society. Why exploit people who come out of prison when they are working and trying to be a good, productive, taxpaying citizen?</p><p>Board chairman Milton E. Buddy Nix Jr., said that in the boards view, an informed public is a safer public.</p><p>Also, being listed on this Web site gives parolees a higher degree of accountability. It helps to keep parolees on the straight and narrow.</p><p>Board spokeswoman Heather Hedrick said that besides letting people know about felons who live nearby, the Web site has helped nab parolees on the lam, Hedrick said.</p><p>In April, a store owner in Jesup called police after he recognized a wanted parolee. After the parolee left the store, she was arrested for violating her parole.</p><p>Another missing parolee was returned to prison after a tipster told police where he could be found in Atlanta. His parole was revoked in April, and he was sent back to prison.</p><p>On the Web: www.pap.state.ga.us</p>
