NOTE: The story about Operation Sentry will run in Saturday's paper, but I wanted to give everyone a glimpse into what we saw. Check Saturday's edition for more information on it!

Yesterday morning, photographer Emma Tannenbaum and myself met with local, state and federal law enforcement for a special joint operation dubbed Operation Sentry, which was targeting registered sex offenders in Nash, Warren and Franklin Counties.

After breaking into teams (9 teams in Nash, 4 in Franklin and 2 in Warren), we went out with two deputies, a marshal and a probation officer to make sure sex offenders in the Battleboro, Gold Rock and Rocky Mount areas were in compliance — meaning they lived where they were supposed to and did not have any contraband.

After going to a few houses where the offenders were already at work, we came across one fellow living at the Red Carpet Inn. We stayed in the car while the officers went to his room, where he was still in bed (and visible to the police thanks to the open curtain). They instructed him to get some clothes on then talked to him for a few minutes. Once they were satisfied he didn't have any drugs or child pornography in the room, we set out for the next offender.

"Most offenders are pretty cooperative," Nash County Sheriff's Deputy Elizabeth Cahoon said.

We were lucky to get assigned to Cahoon's team since she is assigned to track the 141 registered sex offenders in Nash County and could give us a head's up as to what to expect from each encounter.

We went to a house on the western end of Hunter Hill Road before going to the homes of two offenders right by our office at 1000 Hunter Hill Road (the below map is how many are within 3 miles of our office). We learned one offender had sense moved to Connecticut and will likely have federal charges coming their way.

The second offender is classified as an aggravated offender in connection with an indecent liberties with a minor charge from 2003 involving a 12-year-old child. I learned because of the aggravated nature of the charge, he will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life along with other aggravated offenders, sexually violent predators and recidivists.

In the five hours we rode along with the officers, we checked on eight offenders located all over. Some lived out in the country with turkeys (true story) while others lived surprisingly close to my life.

Most of the offenders seemed relatively compliant. We heard other arrests while we were doing checks (if a reporter is doing a ride-along, it is almost always guaranteed that nothing will happen) and authorities announced 19 were arrested during the three county operation, including 14 offenders in Nash County:

• Curtis Miller failure to change address as a sex offender
• Kevin Dozier charged with failure to appear from Jones County
• Ulysees Rogers charged with trespassing
• Melvin Edmonson Jr. charged with failure to comply with child support, resist/delay/obstruct officer
• Michael Cooper charged with failure to appear, possession of Schedule II narcotics
• Rachel Montero charged with failure to register as a sex offender
• Daron Lashawn Battle charged with failure to register as a sex offender
• Edward Stukes charged with failure to change address as a sex offender
• Detron Bennett charged with failure to appear
• Terry Lawing charged with failure to appear
• Ronald Todd Mitchell charged with failure to register as a sex offender
• John Christopher Bailey charged with failure to appear from Johnston, Wake and Franklin counties
• Levis Hicks charged with probation violation
• Danny Lewis charged with possession of Schedule VI narcotics, probation violation, larceny, breaking & entering, expired tag/registration

What do you think of the current laws regulating sex offenders? What do you think about operations like this that crack down on non-compliance among the offenders? Does it make you feel safer knowing authorities are targeting sex offenders who may live near you?

OH and btw, I asked why Edgecombe County wasn't included in the operation, but was informed Edgecombe, Wilson and Halifax counties have all had similar operations in past years, but Nash had been skipped until now.