Elderly Protection Project, Final Project Report

The project seeks to make police officers aware of the changing demographics of the elderly population and to help police officers communicate effectively with elderly citizens in order to intervene in, report, and investigate cases of elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. A survey of police officer training participants indicated that over 75 percent believe less than 40 percent of elder abuse is actually reported. Most respondents feel the elderly victim's fear of retribution, retaliation, and intimidation is why he or she does not always report abuse. Over 96 percent of respondents believe that elder abuse training is beneficial in their work and that the training has made them more receptive to reporting elder abuse. Numerous initiatives resulting from the training program have been undertaken by police departments. A map of training sites and the form used to evaluate the training project are appended. 10 references, 16 tables, and 8 charts