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Clark and Washoe Counties, NV – In an ongoing
effort to make Halloween safer for the children in our communities, Nevada
Child Seekers is excited to announce that a partnership of local law
enforcement agencies and the U.S. Marshals are conducting “Operation
Trick-or-Treat,” a three day multi agency law enforcement operation to
arrest sex offender fugitives and to ensure compliance with sex offender
registration requirements by sex offenders in Clark County and Washoe
County. This is the sixth straight year the U.S. Marshals has spearheaded
this very important operation.
This annual joint operation, a partnership of 33 officers from 13 city,
county, state and federal agencies, is being conducted from October 29
through October 31 and its goal is to arrest as many sex offender fugitives
as possible and to conduct compliance checks on sex offenders suspected of
being out of registration compliance. With half of the operation still
remaining, the operation has already been a resounding success. All the
teams are still in the field but based on the information we have so far, we
expect to conduct over 200 compliance checks and make approximately 15
arrests.
This is not a one-time operation. The U.S. Marshals and its partners on the
Nevada FIST (Fugitive Investigative Strike Team) multi-agency task force 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 its partners aggressively pursue the
arrest of sexual offender fugitives and the registration compliance of those
convicted sexual offenders living in Nevada. Towards this very important
goal, in 2012 the U.S. Marshals Nevada FIST has so far arrested 84
individuals for sex related crimes or registration compliance violations and
conducted 972 sex offender registration compliance checks.
In addition to this very important sex offender apprehension mission, the
U.S. Marshals Nevada FIST every day pursues the worst of the worst fugitives
in Nevada. They effectively leverage the expertise and abilities of ten
federal, state, county, and city law enforcement agencies and every year
they arrest approximately 600 fugitives wanted for drug, gang, sex, and
violence related crimes.
The local law enforcement agencies participating in this operation will
follow up and initiate investigations towards the goal of prosecuting the
local non-compliant sex offenders, and the U.S. Marshals Service will
initiate federal investigations towards the goal of prosecuting the
non-compliant sex offenders who have crossed state lines.
In coordination with Nevada Child Seekers, the Operation Trick-or-Treat task
force partners dedicated to this operation include the U.S. Marshals
Service, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, Henderson Police Department, North Las Vegas Police
Department, Nevada Department of Investigations, Nevada Division of Parole
and Probation, Nevada Department of Corrections, Clark County School Police,
Nevada Gaming and Control Board, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Sparks
Police Department and the Reno Police Department.
“This collaboration sends the message that we will do what is needed to
protect the children in our communities” said Ivet Santiago, executive
director of Nevada Child Seekers. U.S. Marshal Christopher Hoye added,
“Operation Trick or Treat is a demonstration of the law enforcement
community’s commitment to protecting the children of Nevada. We want sexual
offenders to know our commitment does not end with this joint operation. We
will continue to work year round to arrest sexual offender fugitives and to
ensure compliance with existing registration requirements. We are strongly
encouraging 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 during
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 in
neighborhoods;
- Children should never go into homes without
permission of their parents, remember the “Always Ask First” rule; and
- 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 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.
Additional
information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at
http://www.usmarshals.gov.
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