Download: Chicago Police Department's Halloween Safety Tips
"If you see someone suspicious or out please call 911. Do not allow your child to enter into a house if invited in. Accompany your child while trick-or-treating or [have] your child walk in a group. Most children these days have cell phones. Download a GPS app if they're going to be out with their friends so you can track their location," Brian White, executive officer at Cook County Sheriff's Office, said.
Other recommendations: Cops also say you should check all of your children's candy before they dig in - and throw out anything with an open wrapper and any baked goods. Also, make sure children can see and hear while under their costumes to avoid any accidents. Plus, make sure the costume is not too dark so the child is visible.
Community activist Andrew Holmes said random paintball gun attacks are on the rise. Last week a truck driver was hit in the face by a paintball shooter on the Chicago Skyway. The victim refused medical treatment. Holmes says paintball pranksters are all over the city
"Citizens are waiting on the bus either to go to work or go to school All of the sudden the car pulls up for a van pulls up and a person and discharges a weapon with a paintball coming out. People are just standing there and all of a sudden they are under attack. They are hit in the eye, t in the mouth. They're filming it and think it's a joke. People are going down. People are seriously injured," Holmes said.
Holmes is asking parents to take paintball guns away from their children.
On Thursday, the Cook County Sheriff's Office will randomly check the homes of sex offenders to make sure they are living where they are supposed to be. Sex offenders are not allowed to hand out candy at Halloween.
