TDOC officers hit streets to keep children safe on Halloween
JACKSON, Tenn. — Officers with the state of Tennessee worked Monday to protect the public from a different type of predator on Halloween.
“The main thing [is] to just be safe,” Tennessee Department of Corrections District 61 Manager Jeremy Buckelew said.
More than 522 field teams across the state of Tennessee were out Monday to make sure registered sex offenders stayed indoors and out of sight in what they call “Operation Blackout.”
“The main focus for Operation Blackout is compliance checks for our sex offender case loads,” Buckelew said. “We will go in tonight and make sure they are following the fall rules that we have established for them.”
The rules are designed mostly to prevent interaction with children.
“Porch light cannot be on, their door cannot be opened, and they are not to be passing out candy to trick-or-treaters,” Buckelew said.
Other rules include not being able to display fall decorations, wear costumes or attend fall festivals or parties.
WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News got a chance to ride along with the officers as they did their checks.
The evening started out with a statewide phone conference with Buckelew briefing his crew of more than 120.
“Throughout all of West Tennessee, we’ll be focusing on 335 offenders tonight, roughly, here in Jackson. Approximately 44 offenders will be revisited by our officers,” Buckelew said.
And this is not the first visit for those under supervision.
“Every offender that is on active supervision has already been seen by a probation officer and had a thorough residence search,” Buckelew said.
TDOC leaders said they not only want to make sure the community is safe but that the officers protecting them also stay safe.
“Our officers have to be vigilant as well,” Buckelew said. “They’ve been trained on how to complete these compliance checks, and we expect them to follow TDOC policies and procedures.”
It’s an operation that requires teamwork with other departments including the probation and parole staff as well as correctional officers. They also work with TDOC institutions and their employees.
