Read more: Local, State, Crime, Sex Offender, Halloween, Family Watch Dog, Trick or Treating, Safety
By now, you've got the kids' Halloween costume picked out, you've made sure they have a flashlight, and you've told them to be careful around traffic.
But have you taken all the steps to keep your children safe this Halloween?
Bad things can happen in a second.
But you can try to protect yourself against sex offenders with a few taps on a keyboard.
"It takes no time at all," says Quincy Police officer Kelly Vandermaiden.
The web address is www.familywatchdog.us. It's a place you can go, type in your home address, and
"A map will come up of home and work for sex offenders. You can click on the box that comes up and it will give you additional information about that person," says Vandermaiden.
But keep in mind, www.familywatchdog.us is just another tool to help keep your children safe...it is not 100 percent accurate. The reason, not all sex offenders tell police where they live. That is against the law, but it happens. That's why supervision is key.
"Make sure you are supervising your kids. Map out an area, houses that are appropriate to go to prior to them going out. Go with them and make sure you supervise," says Vandermaiden.
Officer Vandermaiden says if you see something suspicious while out trick or treating, feel free to contact your local police to check it out. She says officers would rather respond to a call that turned out to be nothing than have to investigate a crime that could've been prevented.
Keep in mind, all three of the tri-states have their own sex offender registry websites.
The national site is www.familywatchdog.us
In Illinois, you can go here: http://www.isp.state.il.us/sor/
In Iowa: www.iowasexoffender.com
In Missouri: http://www.mshp.dps.mo.gov/MSHPWeb/PatrolDivisions/CRID/SOR/SORPage.html
