When Megan's Law Makes Inroads

Megan's Law gives police the power to track convicted sex offenders. But, as The Early Show correspondent Tracy Smith showed in the first two parts of her series, "Broken Promise," it's almost impossible to enforce the measure 100 percent.

Still, some cities do it better than others, and in part three of the series, Smith visits a few of them.

It's a federal law, but it all comes down to local law enforcement to keep tabs on sex offenders in neighborhoods and notify communities, Smith observes.

In Dallas, there's a four-man police unit called SOAP (Sex Offender Apprehension Program). The unit monitors more than 4,000 convicted sex offenders, making sure they've registered with police, and they're where they're supposed to be. If not, it's back to jail.

"If we can catch these guys doing something wrong, and take action before they re-offend, then that's the best-case scenario," says Dallas SOAP founder Bill Walsh.

Smith was there as a suspect was taken into custody by Dallas SOAP detectives Vidal Olivarez and Lori Tittle.

"Now you've picked up a felony charge for failure to register," Tittle told the man.

He was on probation for aggravated sexual assault of a child.

"Chances are, he's gonna do some pen(itentiary) time, based on this arrest now on this new charge," Olivarez told Smith.

"Just because he didn't register as a sex offender, he's going back?" Smith asked.

"He's going to go back to prison now," Olivarez confirmed.

Tittle and Olivarez visit at least 50 offenders every month.

"They're in every neighborhood. I don't care where you live," Tittle says. "They're in every neighborhood."

Tune in Friday