Are there sex offenders in your neighborhood? Use this map before trick-or-treating

Halloween night is here, which means thousands of Southwest Florida children will be going door to door asking for candy. But do you really know who the stranger is behind the door your child is knocking on?

Although many law enforcement agencies encourage registered sex offenders to leave their lights off and not decorate for the popular holiday, there are no certainties that they will listen.

Florida has more than 30,000 in-state sex offenders and sex predators who were convicted of sex crimes in its statewide database.

Sex offenders are required to register their permanent address with law enforcement. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains a database with this information. Many of them continue to live among us after serving time.

According to the FDLE, the information posted about an offender in their database is not intended to indicate that any judgment has been made about the level of risk a particular offender may present to others, but rather to allow people to form their own risk assessments based on the offender's personal circumstances and conviction history.

More than 1,500 sex offenders live in Southwest Florida neighborhoods, according to the database.

You can SEARCH YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD HERE.