California’s ‘Operation Boo’ a success, LA County arrests sex offenders
Ten sex offenders were arrested for allegedly violating their parole on Halloween, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
In a sting nicknamed “Operation Boo,” the Sheriff’s Department’s Regional Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement team joined the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Halloween night and checked on 358 sex offenders to make sure they were staying away from trick-or-treaters and obeying their curfews, among other parole terms.
The sweep led to 10 arrests, officials said.
This was the 20th Annual Operation Boo to help protect children from sexual predators. It also featured “a Parent’s Guide to help families know if sex-offenders live in their areas and make kids aware of the dangers of abuse in a non-threatening way.,” according the original press release.
CDCR has been conducting and expanding Operation Boo since 1994. Now in its 20th year, Operation Boo is held statewide in California on Halloween night. Known sex-offenders supervised by CDCR are monitored closely by agents from the Division of Adult Parole Operations (DAPO) to ensure that they don’t attempt to attract children to their homes. Special Conditions of Parole are imposed on sex offenders for Halloween nigh
Sex offenders who are homeless were guided to special centers set up so they could obey the terms of their release.
Photo/Vectorportal via wikimedia commons
Of course it was a success. There has never been a reported instance of a child harmed by a registered offender while trick-or-treating–not before “Operation Boo” existed, and not in places where registrants were not restricted regarding Halloween. Places that make political hay out of this false scare tactic every year need to get over it and put their resources where there is an increased risk to children on Halloween. Every expert who wrote about this warned of the increased risk of child/vehicle accidents, and surely and horribly, 5 children died in just such an accident on Halloween evening when the national average for this is 1 a day. Would increased traffic patrol have saved one life–or two? We’ll never know, will we?