San Diego County Sex Offender Sweep
San Diego County authorities conducted a countywide sex offender sweep.
14 people were arrested during the San Diego countywide sex offender sweep where local authorities were to check on the status of registered sex offenders. Hundreds of San Diego law enforcement officers contacted over 800 registered sex offenders across San Diego County to verify whether or not they were complying with the terms of their release. Of the 800 sixty-one were under strict investigation resulting in 14 arrests. “Operation Watchdog” was the term used to call this sex offender sweep. This operation was conducted early Wednesday morning. The “Operation Watchdog” task force commander David Collazo said that the operation was handled by 300 members of the San Diego Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement Task.
According to Collazo, most of the sex offenders that were investigated were following the terms of their release and were complying with the law by living at their registered addresses. Collazo said “We want offenders in San Diego to know they are being actively watched. Our goal was to verify they are complying with registration laws and to identify any illegal activity they might be engaged in”. Collazo also said that because most of the sex offenders were complying with the laws that “that’s a good indicator that offenders in this community know we take the registration laws very seriously”.
14 people were arrested on top of the sixty one that are under investigation. Authorities found various probation and parole violations among the ones arrested. One apprehended for being suspected in a homicide. The search turned up illegal substances such as marijuana and drug paraphernalia as well as pornography. Legal things that sex offenders are not permitted to be in possession of had also came up during the sweep. Things such as laptop computers, smart phones, alcohol, children’s clothing and toys, and digital media had turned up.
14 Arrested In Countywide Sex Offender Sweep, 10news.com, June 23, 2011
Cops make surprise visits to hundreds of sex offenders, fox5sandiego.com, June 23, 2011
If you have been arrested and charged with a crime in San Diego County, trust your case to an experienced San Diego criminal lawyer. Victor A. Orsatti at the San Diego Law Center will explain all of your legal options during a free consultation.
