LPSO Web site tracks sex offenders

Halloween night: To a child there may be no greater time then getting to stay out late collecting a pillow case of sweets, in the coolest costume on the block, but parents beware. Child predators lurk during a time when children are often left vulnerable.

The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office urges parents to utilize online resource to keep children safe. The new OffenderWatch program, available through iCrimeWatch.net, is readily available on the LPSO Web site for parental use, mapping locations children should be wary of not only on Halloween, but throughout the year.

According to officials, some 200 registered sex offenders reside in Lafourche Parish. OffenderWatch pinpoints their location within the community.

“We do the best we can in making sure sex offenders live where they tell us,” said LPSO Sheriff Craig Webre, “so it is especially important that our resents come to our Web site to see who is living in their neighborhood.”

Becoming a registered web-user is confidential and includes an automatic e-mail update whenever an offender moves within 1-mile of the registries home address. Alerts are sent when violators are entered into the state Sex Offender Registry.

Easy navigation to the iCrimeWatch registry site is found through the LPSO’s Web site at www.lpso.net. Those concerned can choose the link on the right side of the page, marked “Locate Registered Sex Offenders” and follow the given instructions.

Webre urges parents to make this Halloween fun and safe for children and to ensure that by providing the information necessary for making the right choices.

“We will have additional patrols out as we usually do, keeping motorists at a snail’s-pace. It’s dark and sometimes kids run into the street so we want to make sure (motorists) are cautious,” said LPSO spokesman Larry Weidel.

In past years, the Courthouse had been open to trick-or-treaters for free candy-screening. Fortunately, the threat of foreign objects has decreased in recent years, he said. Parents are typically giving their children’s collection a good look-over, so the service will probably not be available this year, the spokesman noted.

Parents are asked to watch over not only their own children but keep an eye out for suspicious activity, making for a safe 2006 Halloween, Webre said.