Multi-agency effort verifies sex offender registration compliance

Operation Vigilance, a multi-agency collaborative effort to verify sex offender registration compliance, was conducted in Fallon, Silver Springs, Yerington, Fernley, Stagecoach and Dayton during two days and nights last week.

Twelve officers with area law enforcement agencies knocked on doors and made contact with community members to carry out this important operation, according to the Nevada Department of Public Safety.

This joint effort by the Nevada Department of Public Safety — Division of Parole and Probation, Fallon Police Department and Lyon County Sheriff Office, along with the U.S. Marshal Service, resulted in 182 sex offender compliance checks.

The whereabouts of known sex offenders in the area were verified through visits at each individual’s registered residence and/or place of employment, said spokesman David Gibson. Those sex offenders found to be out of compliance or with locations/whereabouts unknown will be further investigated for violations of local, state, and federal laws.

As a result of Operation Vigilance, Gibson said one supervised offender was arrested for violating his probation terms and conditions. Twenty-six sex offenders were found out of compliance with registration requirements. Community members were also educated and provided direction to the Nevada Sex Offender Registration website, http://www.nvsexoffenders.gov/, where the public can access information regarding sex offenders in their area.

Gibson said this multi-agency collaboration is viewed as a great success for increasing offender supervision and sex offender compliance and serves as an example of how federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies work together to increase community safety in Northern Nevada.

Operation Vigilance was made possible by funding provided by the U.S. Marshals Service for Parole and Probation staff, Department funding for Lyon County Sheriff’s Office staff, and grant funding from the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, which secured a Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (S.M.A.R.T.) grant issued by the U.S. Department of Justice for Lyon and Fallon Police Department staff.