USMS NEWS RELEASE
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 Service is conducting “Operation Trick-or-Treat,” a five-day joint law enforcement operation to arrest sex offender fugitives and to ensure compliance with sex offender registration requirements by sex offenders in Clark and Washoe counties.
This annual joint operation, a partnership of 35 officers from 11 city, county, state and federal agencies, is being conducted Oct. 24-28, 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 a half day still remaining, the operation has already been a resounding success. As of today, 21 fugitives have been arrested, 14 of which were sex offense related.
Additionally, over 100 compliance checks were conducted and approximately 90 percent were found to be compliant. This high compliance rate is excellent news, and we attribute it to the ongoing year-round collective efforts of law enforcement in Nevada.
Numerous other sex offenders were located and cleared as either being compliant, deceased or incarcerated. Several other non-compliant sex offenders have been located in other states, and information on those offenders has been forwarded to the local police and/or U.S. Marshals office there.
The local law enforcement agencies participating in this operation will follow up and initiate investigations toward the goal of prosecuting the local non-compliant sex offenders, and the U.S. Marshals Service will initiate federal investigations toward the goal of prosecuting the non-compliant sex offenders who crossed state lines.
In coordination with Nevada Child Seekers, the Operation Trick-or-Treat task force partners dedicated to this operation included the U.S. Marshals Service including its Sex Offender Investigations Branch (SOIB), the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the Henderson Police Department, the North Las Vegas Police Department, the Nevada Department of Public Safety, the Nevada Department of Corrections, the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office the Sparks Police Department and the Reno Police Department.
“This collaboration sends the message that we will do what is needed to protect 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.
• 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.
America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency
Annually, U.S. Marshals arrest more than 50 percent of all federal fugitives and serve more federal warrants than all other federal agencies combined. For more information, go to www.usmarshals.gov.
