Every Halloween, parole officers hit the streets to keep children safe. On Wednesday, officers checked in on registered sex offenders in Kern County to make sure they weren't participating in Halloween activities under 'Operation Boo.'
Under the terms of a sex offender's parole, they are not allowed to hand out candy to children, have any lights on or decorations out for the holiday. While kids were out having fun, seven teams of parole officers were planning their night, which included checking in on registered sex offenders.
"Trying to protect the children out there. Make sure the families have a good safe Halloween, not letting the 290 sex offenders participate in Halloween. Just trying to keep them away from the kids." said James Stanton, California State Parole.
They started at 6 p.m. with each team assigned between five and ten parolees. At one home in northwest Bakersfield, officers found the parolee was following all the rules.
Under the terms of their parole, sex offenders must remain indoors for Halloween, from 5 p.m. until 5 a.m. the next morning. They can't offer candy to children or hang decorations. And, their home must be completely dark.
"We don't want kids going up knocking on one of those doors and have a parolee answering the door. There's been very little problems on Halloween, but I think that's because parole has been proactive from keeping them from participating."
17 News followed parole agents to four homes, where they found all of the parolees were following the rules. As of 11 p.m. Wednesday, six people had been arrested for not following the terms of their parole out of 78 compliance checks.
This is the 19th year for Operation Boo across California.
