Law enforcement completes sweep of homes of area sex offenders
CHAMPAIGN — Local law enforcement agencies completed a sweep of homes of 135 known sex offenders in Champaign County on Thursday.
Champaign Police spokeswoman Rene Dunn said the purpose of the unannounced visits to sex offenders' homes was to identify and locate sex registered offenders, to verify their compliance with the law and to clear a number of state warrants for sex offender registry violations.
Dunn said that two people were taken into custody, eight others require additional investigation after they were found to be not in compliance with the Illinois Sex Offender Registration Act, 47 others need more investigation and 78 were found to be in compliance.
Law enforcement agencies taking part in the effort included the Champaign, Urbana, Rantoul and Mahomet police departments; the Champaign County Probation Department; the Champaign County sheriff's office; the Department of Human Services; Illinois State Police; Secretary of State police and the U.S. Marshals Service.
"We are appreciative of the area agencies who worked with us on this operation. This proactive and comprehensive effort shows what can happen when federal, state and local law enforcement work together," Champaign police Lt. Joe Gallo said in a written release.
MoreI applaud the police for this effort. However, we should all be aware that there are many ways a person can be labeled a sex offender; and each case is different. Do not broad brush this group as being pedophiles.
That being said, I think this was a very judicious use of law enforcement resources given the events of late.
I applaude the police for this but the sad part is it took what 9 attempted abductions in order for them to wake up and look into the pervs living in the area. Sorry but a sex offender is labeled as that for a reason no matter how they got on the list they are on the list for a reason. And the police should be doing these "sweeps" on a consistent basis not just when something happens.
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