Operation Trick-or-Treat 2015, Keeping Kids Safe from Sex Offenders

Clark County, NV - In an ongoing effort to make Halloween safer for the children in our communities, the U.S. Marshals and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department are conducting “Operation Trick-or Treat”, a four day joint law enforcement operation in Clark County, Nevada to ensure compliance with sex offender registration requirements by sex offenders. This is the ninth straight year the U.S. Marshals has spearheaded this very important operation. All the teams are still in the field but based on the information we have so far, we expect to conduct over 400 compliance checks in Clark County.

This is not a one-time operation. The U.S. Marshals and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department are conducting this operation in a concerted effort to specifically make the streets as safe as possible for Halloween. However, every day throughout the entire year the U.S. Marshals and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department aggressively pursue the arrest of sex offender fugitives and the registration compliance of those convicted sex offenders living in Nevada.

Towards this very important goal, in 2015 the U.S. Marshals and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department have teamed up and arrested 67 individuals for sex related crimes or registration compliance violations and conducted more than 2300 sex offender registration compliance checks.

In addition to this very important sex offender apprehension mission, the U.S. Marshals in Nevada every day pursue the worst of the worst fugitives. They effectively leverage the expertise and abilities of federal, state, county, and city law enforcement agencies and so far this year have arrested

approximately 400 fugitives wanted for drugs, gang, sex and violence related crimes.

The U.S. Marshals and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department will follow up and initiate investigations towards the goal of prosecuting the local non-compliant sex offenders. The U.S. Marshals Service will also initiate federal investigations towards the goal of prosecuting the non-compliant sex offenders who have crossed state lines.

U.S. Marshal Christopher Hoye added, “Operation Trick-or-Treat is a demonstration of law enforcement’s commitment to protecting our children in Nevada. We want the sex offenders to know our commitment does not end with this joint operation. We will continue to work year round to arrest sex offender fugitives and to ensure compliance with existing registration requirements. We strongly encourage local sex offenders to properly register to avoid arrest and prosecution.”

The Operation Trick-or-Treat Task Force partners and Nevada Child Seekers want sex offenders to know that law enforcement will be out in force the week of Halloween to protect the children of Nevada. They also want parents to know there are several ways to keep their children safe on Halloween. Law enforcement is on their side, but they can also follow a few of these tips;

    Don’t allow children to go trick-or-treating alone.

    Children should never go into homes without the permission of their parents, remember the “Always Ask First Rule”.

    Teach children to “Shout Out Loud” and scream if someone tries to trick them with special treats or tries to grab them.

Nevada Child Seekers is a non-profit organization created in 1985 by the community leaders dedicated to locating and advocating on behalf of missing, abducted and runaway children. Nevada Child Seekers offers liaison services to family and law enforcement, abduction prevention education and volunteer opportunities that promote the safety of children in our communities. For further information about Nevada Child Seekers, please visit www.nevadachildseekers.org. The site offers information about Nevada Child Seekers’ programs and lists missing children and youth.