NCJ Number
82372
Date Published
1979
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This manual is designed to serve as a speaker's aid for crime prevention leaders in educating elderly persons in Florida about security measures they can take to avoid becoming crime victims and to reduce their fear of victimization.
Abstract
Speakers are advices to supplement the material in the manual with information on specific local problems and solutions. Suggestions for the speaker emphasize the need for sensitivity to older persons' feelings of futility and helplessness in dealing with crime. A statistical overview of the elderly population of Florida notes that 23 percent of the State's June 1978 population was over age 60. Although the elderly are less victimized than younger people by crimes of violence, they experience a greater rate of personal larceny with contact (pickpoket and pursesnatch), strong arm robbery, and fraud. In addition, elderly crime victims suffer far more than younger victims because of the more prolonged financial impact, the longer physical recovery time, and the greater psychological effects. Florida's Help Stop Crime program aims to help elderly persons reduce their fear of crime and to regain some of the freedom to live the full life they desire. Common frauds perpetrated among the elderly are the pigeon drop, the phony bank examiner, the home improvement fraud, fake contests, frauds involving working at home, bait and switch, medical frauds, mail order clinics, the fear sell, and insurance fraud. Guidelines are given for recognizing and dealing with these frauds and on the penalties imposed for them. The Neighborhood Watch program is described, with emphasis on the procedure for reporting suspicious activities to the police, the information to report regarding a suspicious vehicle, and terminology to use when reporting crimes. Methods for making doors, windows, and fire extinguishers secure are also described. Advice is also given regarding precautions for avoiding sexual assault, appropriate responses to street crimes, the handling of obscene phone calls, and other techniques for crime prevention.