The Sex Offender Register, introduced under the Sex Offenders Act 1997, requires certain convicted and cautioned offenders to register their new addresses with their local police within 14 days of their release from custody or hospital or on moving home. This report is the first evaluation of police use of the register. It examines issues such as the usefulness of sex offender registration information, the registration process, force policies and organizational structures, information management, and monitoring sex offenders. It provides information on perceived strengths and weaknesses of the legislation and suggests how it might be improved. The report recommends 10 actions by the Home Office, including clarifying the status of sex offender monitoring in relation to other policing priorities and four actions by the Association of Chief Police Officers, including liaising with the probation service to establish effective registration and monitoring. It recommends that police forces address sex offender monitoring in force policing plans and crime prevention strategies, and that the Prison Service consider whether notice to the police of offenders with registration requirements should be harmonized with more detailed requirements to social services. Tables, figures, references, appendixes