Acting Houston chief declined to engage in Halloween sex offender hype

“ Tony Blais Tuesday, November 01, 2016

Grits has complained for years about law enforcement hyping the dangers of sex-offenders on Halloween. IMO they’re politicized scare tactics with little basis in reality that ignore the more significant and obvious threats facing families and kids. Indeed, readers are so used to these annual polemics that one commenter chimed in to complain I hadn’t written this year’s version.

Certainly a lot of sex offender hype went on in the press this year. Searching the terms “Halloween, sex offender” on Google News brought back 264,000 results. All those on the top pages were police PR pieces; none of them actually documented a child harmed or even approached by a sex offender on Halloween.

So I was pleased to see the Acting Houston Police Chief break that mold and issue a Halloween warning focused on the real dangers facing kids Halloween night. Reported the Houston Chronicle:

Acting Houston Police Chief Martha Montalvo reminded motorists to take extra precautions this year.

“Please be aware of your surroundings and slow down,” she said recently.”

She also recommended that:

Parents should inspect candy before it is eaten;

Children should have a light source or reflective clothing;

Children not walk alone while trick or treating;

And that was it. Thank you, Chief Montalvo, for declining to indulge in the fear-hyping surrounding sex offenders which has become an annual media and law enforcement ritual. Well done.

“ Posted by Gritsforbreakfast at 9:32 AM