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Police Chief: Don't Let Smart Phone Track Trick-Or-Treaters; Do It Yourself

(CBS) -- A suburban police chief said Tuesday that smart phone apps allowing parents to track their kids as they go trick-or-treating is all well and good, but the best way to keep kids safe is a lot simpler: go with them.

"What we like our residents to do – and I think which is a better idea, in my opinion – is that the parents need to go, or an adult needs to go with children, maybe 10 and under, that are trick-or-treating," said Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel.

He said tracking kids with a smart phone app, like the "Track N Treat" app for iPhones, might be a reasonable supplement, but he'd rather see parents take their kids themselves.

Weitzel also suggested parents end trick-or-treating at sundown to minimize the chances of a traffic accident involving a child, which is his primary Halloween safety concern.

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