Halloween and Trick-or-Treat Safety Tips from the Decatur County Sheriff’s Department
In Decatur County, there is approximately 40-50 registered sex offenders, and
we want you to know where they reside so that you avoid those houses when trick-or-
treating. “We do the best we can in making sure sex offenders live where they tell us, so
it is crucial that our citizens visit our website www.decaturcountysheriff.com, to see who
the registered sex offenders are and where they are living.” says Sheriff Bill Meyerrose.
Citizens are encouraged to check any addresses where they or their family spend time.
Sheriff Meyerrose says “The mapping and address feature found on the website
pinpoints exactly where an offender lives.”
You will also find many other beneficial tools such as the ability to sign up for
FREE automatic email notifications informing you if an offender moves within a specified
radius of any address you register. “If you aren’t planning on trick-or-treating in your
neighborhood, but will be in a family or friend’s neighborhood, register their address
beforehand so you know which houses to avoid. You can register any and all of the
addresses where your children spend a lot of time; for example, friend’s, grandparent’s,
or babysitter’s addresses” says Sheriff Meyerrose. The alerts are in real-time and sent
out via e-mail as soon as a new offender has registered with the Decatur County
Sheriff’s department. Sheriff Meyerrose says “The benefit of registering for this free
confidential e-mail alert service is that it allows us to monitor your important addresses
for you, thereby keeping you up to date of newly registered offenders and making it
unnecessary for you to have to check your important addresses daily or even weekly”.
The website for the statewide sex and violent offender registry is
http://www.icrimewatch.net/indiana.php . Citizens should click on the county that they
want to check. Once in the county’s personal site, citizens can click the link “Search for
Offenders in your area” and follow the instructions to check their neighborhood and sign
up to receive FREE e-mail alerts.
Sheriff Meyerrose and the Decatur County Sheriff’s department encourage
everyone to have a fun and safe Halloween. Knowledge is power and knowing where
the registered sex offenders reside in your area can help you make the best choices for
safe and enjoyable Halloween activities.
For further information, please call the Decatur County Sheriff’s Department at
812-663-8125.