"Oper. Grand Slam" complete, but 480 Milwaukee Co. sex offenders not verified

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The U.S. Marshals Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin has announced the completion of "Operation Grand Slam," -- a focused effort of compliance checks to verify the residences of registered sex offenders in Milwaukee County.

Operation Grand Slam was a coordinated effort between the U.S. Marshals Service, Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, Milwaukee Police Department and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Sex Offender Registry.

From March 24rd through May 23rd, investigators endeavored to verify the residences of 1,449 sex offenders in Milwaukee County.

Investigators were able to verify the residences of 969 of those sex offenders.

Those who were not verified may not have been home at the time law enforcement officials stopped by.

The U.S. Marshals will continue to work with the Sex Offender Registry to verify the residences of those offenders who were unable to be verified during the operation.

Following additional investigation by the Sex Offender Registry -- any offenders who were found to be non-compliant will be evaluated by the Sex Offender Registry and the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office for potential criminal charges and issuance of arrest warrants for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.

Any potential federal violations would be further investigated by the Marshals Service and prosecution sought with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“Operation Grand Slam was the largest sex offender compliance check conducted in the Eastern District of Wisconsin to date. This effort was only possible through the extraordinary cooperation and close coordination of all the agencies involved. Through our consolidated efforts we continue to make our communities and children safer," Marshal Kevin Carr said.

The U.S. Marshals Service is the lead law enforcement agency responsible for investigating sex offender registration violations and related offenses in connection with violations of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

Enacted on July 27, 2006, this Act directed the United States Marshals to assist state, local, tribal and territorial authorities in conducting compliance checks of registered sex offenders as well as locating and apprehending non-compliant and fugitive sex offenders.

To ensure the safety of children across the country, the U.S. Marshals implemented an aggressive nationwide enforcement strategy. Since the law was enacted, the United States Marshals have coordinated over 234,000 compliance checks and have arrested over 75,000 fugitives for sex offense based warrants, resulting in the closure of more than 97,000 warrants.

To search for sex offenders in the State of Wisconsin, please visit http://doc.wi.gov/community-resources/offender-registry.

To search for sex offenders nationwide please visit the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website at http://www.nsopw.gov/.

Searches can be done for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Indian Country.

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