KWES NewsWest 9 / Midland, Odessa, Big Spring, TX: newswest9.com | Sex Offender Round Up in Ector County

Nick Lawton
NewsWest 9

ECTOR COUNTY - It's an operation that happens only twice a year, but one that helps law enforcement keep tabs on the locations of sex offenders.

Offenders face a list of specifics they have to keep up with or face jail time.

In the first 10 minutes of the operation, NewsWest 9 witnessed a sex offender handcuffed on his front porch and led to a police car.

Officers said he had several warrants and he went straight to the Ector County Detention Center.

"If they have warrants, and we're able to locate them, then they will be arrested," Detective Afton White with the Odessa Police Department, said.

The day began at 5 p.m. Tuesday for more than 60 law enforcement officers hailing from the Texas Department of Public Safety, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Ector County Sheriff's office, the U.S. Marshals office, Ector County District Attorney's office, Ector County ISD and the Ector County Adult Probation and Medical Examiner's offices.

They came together to form a Registration, Enforcement, Apprehension and Prosecution team, or REAP team.

After a briefing, they dispatched to perform random checks at the homes of registered sex offenders throughout Ector County with NewsWest 9 closely following.

"It's unexpected," White said. "They don't know that we're coming and we'll have to deal with whether or not they're living there or not."

With more than 200 registered sex offenders in Ector County, the job of keeping tabs on all of them is hard for patrol officers on their own.

This large operation allows them to spread throughout the county.

"In one night, we want to throw a blanket out," Odessa Police Lieutenant, Eddie Reed, said. "We want to know that we're in compliance."

Any offender's change in address, vehicle or job has to be told to police.

If they don't comply, a warrant will be issued and they'll face jail time.

"We take it very, very seriously that we keep track of and that we maintain a contact with these people," Reed said. "That way, they know we're aware of them and we expect them to comply, and if they don't, we're going to arrest them."