SPOKANE, Wash.—With Halloween just around the corner, trick-or-treating is on the mind of a lot of kids and their parents.

Parents have heard for years to check their kid’s candy for anything suspicious.

KREM 2 set out to verify if people were making a point to hurt children by tainting their Halloween candy.

Officer John O’Brien with the Spokane Police Department said these types of incidents have not been reported in the Spokane area. O’Brien said that doesn’t mean parents should not be careful.

“Be leery of homemade items and if things just don't look right in the packaging, if it looks like it's been tampered with, don't chance it,” said O’Brien.

Professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, Joel Best, has researched Halloween candy tampering back to 1958.

Best said he hasn’t found any convincing evidence.

“I can't find any evidence that any child has been killed or seriously harmed by a contaminated treat, picked up in the course of trick-or-treating,” said Best.

Best said that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

“I don't want to say that this has never happened, because you cannot prove a negative, but I can say that this would be a big news story if it did," said Best.

So are people tampering with your kid’s Halloween candy? FALSE

VERIFY Sources:

• Spokane Police Department, Officer John O’Brien
• Professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Delaware, Joel Best

Let us know if you want something verified. Contact us at verify@kgw.com