'Intensified Sex Offender Monitoring' For East Hampton Through Halloween: PD

EAST HAMPTON, NY — East Hampton Town police are engaging in "intensified sex offender monitoring" through Halloween, officials announced.

In an operation that began in the early morning hours Friday and is expected to continue though Halloween night, the East Hampton Town Police Department has prioritized sex offender monitoring, authorities said.

The initiative consists of the East Hampton Town Police Department's detective division conducting intensified supervision of registered sex offenders, police said.

Detectives are visiting the homes of the offenders and are conducting random surveillance to ensure compliance with state and local laws, police said.

The East Hampton Town Police Department said it has prioritized the safety of the children, and offered the following tips to ensure a great Halloween;

- Create a map of a safe trick-or treating route and set a time limit for your children to trick-or-treat.

- Trick-or-treaters should always be in groups and parents should accompany young children.

- Make sure older kids trick-or-treat with friends. Together, map out a safe route so you will know where they are going. Tell them to stop only at familiar homes where the outside lights are on.

- Try to get your kids to trick-or-treat while it's still light out. If it's dark, make sure someone has a flashlight, add reflective tape to costumes and bags, and pick well-lighted streets.

- Do not go inside anyone's home.

- Do not accept rides from strangers and be sure children do not approach any vehicle, occupied or not.

- Remind kids to keep a safe distance from moving cars.

- Cross only at street corners, never between parked cars, and never diagonally across an intersection.

- Look in all directions before crossing the street, and obey all traffic signals. Walk, never run, across the street, and use sidewalks, not the street, for walking.

- Do not take shortcuts through backyards, alleys or parks.

- Do not eat any treats until parents have inspected them.

- Discard any homemade or unwrapped treats.

- Teach children how to call 911 in an emergency.