Louisiana lawmakers may have their heart in the right place, but they should use caution when considering the more than two-dozen bills dealing with sex offenders.

Proposed measures include a litany of changes, from longer mandatory prison sentences to the possibility of electronic monitoring for life.

Another bill would allow for the chemical or physical castration of a convicted sex offender. Given the number of murder cases that have been overturned years later, the liability the state would assume in doing this seems great.

With 30 proposed bills on the plate, lawmakers are obviously engaging in a bit of political one-upsmanship, too.

Being tough on sex offenders is a politically popular thing to do right now, and for good measure.

Considering the myriad of disgusting cases that continue across the country, it&8217;s obvious that our current system falls short of stopping these criminals.

We applaud the proposals that would increase minimum prison sentences. Locking up these menaces to society is the best way to keep our children safe.

But before any lock can be turned and the key thrown away, law enforcement must catch the offenders.

Too often, lawmakers provide lip service to such problems by toughening sentencing laws and developing plans to track the offenders when they&8217;re released after sentencing.

Unfortunately, we rarely increase the funding to law enforcement officers asked to nab these folks before they commit their innocence-robbing crimes.

Rather than wildly throwing new laws around, why not give more support to the crime fighters who are out on the front lines trying to cuff the bad guys? That&8217;s where true crime fighting begins.