Operation Safe Neighborhood checks in on almost 300 sex offenders

BRUNSWICK/COLUMBUS COUNTY (WWAY) — About 60 officers from numerous agencies have been working since Tuesday to check in with sex offenders in your neighborhoods.

Today the US Marshals Service is calling Operation Safe Neighborhood a success. Officers from the Marshals Service, Brunswick and Columbus County Sheriff’s Offices, and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety set out to make sure sex offenders in Brunswick and Columbus counties were in compliance with NC guidelines.

US Marshal, Scott Parker, said teamwork is the most important part of these missions.

“Teamwork. That’s what law enforcement is all about. We all came together as one. If we needed someone from Columbus in Brunswick they came. If we needed someone in Columbus from Brunswick they came. They worked together, they crossed that county … There’s no county line. The crooks, the sex offenders, they don’t see a county line. And these two sheriff’s did not see a county line,” said Parker.

The law enforcement team tell WWAY they started early each morning and worked late into the night to make sure they were hitting as many houses as possible.

Officials said check-ups on registered sex offenders happen regularly in both Brunswick and Columbus county, but pairing with the Marshals Service allowed the checks to happen on a much larger scale.