By Laura Rivera and Brandon Bain
Newsday
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — As costumed ghouls prepare to skulk around Long Island’s streets this Halloween, county authorities have announced measures to protect young revelers from real-life threats like sex offenders and to keep holiday pranksters in check.
Under a Nassau initiative dubbed Operation Safe Sweets, officials from several county agencies said they would deploy seven teams of probation officers today and tomorrow to monitor the homes of some of the county’s convicted sex offenders, who number about 300.
Timothy Driscoll, deputy county executive for law enforcement and public safety, said the probation officers would intensify their random checks during the early afternoon, when school lets out, and early evening.
“That’s when we believe there is the greatest risk that sex offenders could have contact with a child,” Driscoll said.
In Suffolk, officials said 70 special victims unit detectives would check on some of the county’s 80 registered Level 3 sex offenders today and tomorrow. Level 2 offenders, considered less dangerous, will be monitored by probation officers, they said.
At a news conference yesterday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy said the detectives would conduct “aggressive checks” of the offenders at their homes to ensure they do not don costumes or answer the door for trick-or-treaters.
Responding to recent incidents involving paintball guns and frozen pellets, Levy and county police commissioner Richard Dormer said officers would crack down on youth under 16 who carry such guns. It is illegal for anyone under 16 to have a paintball gun.
“This is not a toy, it’s a deadly type of weapon,” Dormer said.
While Suffolk police said they would deploy an additional 60 officers to patrol the streets on Halloween, a Nassau police spokesman said they would manage with their regular workforce. The department will assign some officers from each precinct to patrol vulnerable areas like houses of worship and schools, said Det. Sgt. Anthony Repalone, spokesman for Nassau police.
“We’re looking out for any sort of acts of criminal mischief,” Repalone said, “including shaving cream, eggs, typical Halloween activities.”
Copyright 2007 Newsday