Friday, October 28, 2011
Resume:
The Delaware State Police would like to remind parents, children, and motorists to remain vigilant and keep safety a top priority during this Halloween weekend.
Motorist Safety
Motorists are being asked to not only drive with extreme caution, but also to drive extra slow in neighborhoods and residential areas.
Children will be walking house to house and depending on the availability of sidewalks, may be near or actually on the roadway.
With all the trick or treating excitement, children may inadvertently dart across the street into the path of moving vehicles.
Trick or Treating Safety
Children should never go trick or treating alone, they should always have a parent or a group of friends with them at all times.
Stay off the main roadways.
Costumes should always fit properly.
Consider face paint instead of masks as they can obstruct a child’s vision.
Trick or Treaters should always carry a flashlight.
For added visibility consider using “glow sticks” and/or reflective tape attached to the costumes or bags.
Before crossing the street, always look in both directions twice to make sure there is no vehicular traffic.
Parents encouraged to review the Delaware Sex Offender Registry
Parents can find accurate information regarding the presence of sex offenders in their neighborhoods by visiting the Delaware Sex Offender Registry online at:
http://desexoffender.dsp.delaware.gov/SexOffenderPublic/#
Parents are encouraged to review the list of registered sex offenders living near their neighborhood. The Neighborhood Search and Mapping feature found on the website pinpoints exactly where an offender lives, therefore, educating the public on which house to avoid while trick-or-treating.
The Delaware State Police Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration (SOAR) Unit will be working in conjunction with Probation and Parole ensuring that registered sex offenders are not participating in the Halloween activities and are in compliance with requirements.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
I don't know how many folks will read this particular post, but I feel compelled to share a little something with Delmarva. Over the last 10 years, I have resided in the Chapel Branch community in Hebron. If you are not familiar with the community, it is a collection of mostly starter homes in a very quiet area. Like many, my wife and I enjoy seeing the kids enjoying the fun of Halloween, but I have to share that I am sick of seeing literally car and van loads of kids not from our community being trucked in to gather their loot. I am all for kids having fun, but I stopped counting the number of DE tags on all of the cars coming through our little community. Not only does this make for a very unsafe circumstance, with the much higher volume of traffic, but every year, I have counted dozens of parents either obviously intoxicated, or in the process of consumption, using very foul language smoking more than legally licensed tobacco, and just being downright antisocial. Our community has already contacted the Wicomico County Sherrif's department about this requesting whatever assistance they can render. I do indeed understand that there are many on Delmarva, who may not reside in a safe area that would allow for their children to trick or treat, but what is going on is just absud. In short, to those that are reading this and may seek to engage in this behavior, please stop. You are setting up a very unsafe circumstance, and are acting in a very poor manner with which to set an example for their children. Please keep your trick or treating activities to your local community, or if that is not a possibility, get together with other parents to plan a safe party at one of your homes with which to do so. We are collectively tired of the above mentioned situation, not to mention the trash that is left behind, the damage to our collective property when usually parents damage our landscaping, or - believe it or not, urinate on our property or homes. Again, we are all for kids having fun, but the 'adults' accompanying these children are going to give us no recourse but to turn away anyone not from our local community.
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