HARTFORD, Conn. -- New technology is helping police in Hartford track sex offenders and ensure that those people comply with the state's Sex Offender Registry.

In eight cases on Thursday, police arrested four sex offenders during a roundup early in the morning.

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Police said they seized seven guns in Augustus Samuels' house on Laurel Street, some of which are very high-powered weapons.

"Anytime you have a sex offender with a weapon, we take that very seriously," Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts said. "This is a person who attacks, for the most part, young people who are helpless."

Samuels, 48, was charged with first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree risk of injury to a minor, second-degree assault, seven counts of criminal possession of a firearm and theft of a firearm.

Three other men arrested include:

• George Marshall, 39, of Hartford, charged with failure to register
• Howard Skirvin, 55, of Hartford, arrested in Farmington and charged with three counts of first-degree sex assault and six counts of risk of injury to a minor
• Everett Merritt, 48, of New Haven, charged with second-degree larceny

Roberts said the crime data analysis team is using detailed mapping systems to track the offenders at the neighborhood level.

"This is state of the art stuff. We try to do it real time, try to keep it as aggressive as possible. It really helps us keeping these registered offenders in compliance," Roberts said.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Ray Daudani reported the department has made sex offender tracking a major goal with the creation of a new unit last fall. Roberts said he wants even more manpower dedicated to the task.

"We want to add more people to the unit when we can. This is like maybe three or four guys, but only one main guy is working on this right now," Roberts said.

The chief said the results show the need to enhance a unit that already has a tough task.

Hartford police also arrested four other juvenile sex offenders, and said 80 percent of the nearly 500 sex offenders in town are in currently compliance with the registry.

The police department's goal is to reach 100 percent, saying they're already seeing major gains from their new unit.