"SENIORS: VICTIMS OR PARTNERS IN COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS"

UNITED AGAINST CRIME NETWORK SATELLITE BROADCAST

by

AILEEN ADAMS

DIRECTOR, OFFICE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME

APRIL 16, 1996

I AM AILEEN ADAMS, THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME, WHICH WE FONDLY REFER TO AS OVC, IN THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. OUR OFFICE IS THE LEADING ADVOCATE FOR CRIME VICTIMS AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL. I AM VERY PLEASED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS LIVE SATELLITE CRIME PREVENTION TRAINING SESSION, THE THEME OF WHICH IS "SENIORS: VICTIMS OR PARTNERS IN COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS."

AS THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME, I AM STRONGLY COMMITTED TO HELPING CURB CRIME AGAINST OLDER AMERICANS. BEFORE COMING TO WASHINGTON, D.C., AS A PROSECUTOR IN LOS ANGELES I SET UP THE FIRST NURSING HOME ABUSE UNIT IN A PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE IN CALIFORNIA AND DRAFTED BOTH THE NURSING HOME PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS AND THE ELDERLY ABUSE LAW. AT THE OFFICE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME I HAVE CONTINUED THAT STRONG COMMITMENT TO OLDER AMERICANS BY FUNDING A NUMBER OF INNOVATIVE PROJECTS AND PARTNERSHIPS TO ASSIST SENIOR CRIME VICTIMS. I WILL DESCRIBE A FEW OF THESE INITIATIVES IN A MOMENT, BUT FIRST LET'S CONSIDER SOME STATISTICS AND TRENDS.

WHILE THE MOST RECENT FEDERAL CRIME STATISTICS INDICATE THAT CRIME HAS DROPPED IN OUR COUNTRY BY 3% OVER LAST YEAR, THE FEAR OF CRIME REMAINS THE SAME. I SUSPECT THAT THIS IS PARTICULARLY TRUE OF SENIORS WHO ARE OFTEN AFRAID TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES, EVEN TO GO TO THE MARKET OR TO BUY NEEDED MEDICINES. THE FACT REMAINS THAT APPROXIMATELY 2.1 MILLION SENIORS EACH YEAR ARE VICTIMIZED BY CRIME. SOME ARE RAPED IN THEIR OWN HOMES; SOME ARE ROBBED IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES; SOME ARE BILKED OF THEIR LIFE SAVINGS OVER THEIR OWN TELEPHONES; AND SOME ARE BEATEN BY THEIR OWN FAMILY MEMBERS OR ASSAULTED IN THEIR OWN NURSING HOMES. AS THE AMERICAN POPULATION AGES, IT IS LIKELY THAT ELDER ABUSE WITHIN FAMILIES -- WHICH IS A DEVASTATING FORM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THAT WE HEAR VERY LITTLE ABOUT -- WILL INCREASE.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THESE CRIMES AGAINST OLDER AMERICANS? WE MUST FORM PARTNERSHIPS WITH ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT AND WITH COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING OLDER AMERICANS THEMSELVES, TO COMBAT THIS VIOLENCE. LET ME GIVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES OF THESE SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIPS WHICH ARE SPREADING ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

ONE OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE ARE PROGRAMS CALLED TRIAD -- WHICH ARE PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT, THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS, AND SENIORS IN VARIOUS COMMUNITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY. THESE GROUPS COME TOGETHER TO PLAN PREVENTION STRATEGIES AND SUPPORT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN VICTIMIZED. THE CONCEPT WAS INITIATED IN 1989 BY SHERIFF CHARLES FUCILIER IN ST. MARTIN PARISH, LOUISIANA. TODAY THERE ARE MORE THAN 260 TRIAD PROGRAMS IN 44 STATES. LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF THE KIND OF PROGRAMS THAT GROW OUT OF THESE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.

IN BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, UNDER THE TRIAD CONCEPT, THE LOCAL SHERIFF MET WITH SENIOR CITIZENS WHO DESCRIBED THEIR FEAR OF BEING VICTIMIZED ON THEIR WAY TO THE MARKET. THE SHERIFF DECIDED TO PAY FOR A BUS AND ESCORTS WHO WOULD TAKE SENIORS LIVING IN ONE OF THE HOUSING PROJECTS WITH A HIGH CRIME RATE TO THE MARKET EACH WEEK. IN RETURN SOME OF THE SENIOR WOMEN CROCHETED ADORABLE OUTFITS FOR TEDDY BEARS, WHICH THE SHERIFFS THEN GAVE TO CHILDREN WHO HAD BEEN SEXUALLY ABUSED. THIS KIND OF PROGRAM DEMONSTRATES THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS TO MAKE PEOPLE SAFER. IT IS PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT NEW WAYS OF CURBING CRIME AND RESPONDING DIRECTLY TO NEEDS IDENTIFIED IN EACH COMMUNITY.

THE OFFICE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME HAS BEEN VERY PLEASED TO PROVIDE FUNDS TO HELP SPREAD TRIADS INTO MORE AND MORE COMMUNITIES. IN THIS EFFORT WE HAVE COLLABORATED CLOSELY WITH THE NATIONAL SHERIFF 'S ASSOCIATION, THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE, AND AARP. WE HAVE ALSO DEVELOPED AND DEVELOP A TRAINING MANUAL ABOUT ELDER ABUSE THAT IS BEING USED BY LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AROUND THE COUNTRY. AND WE HOPE THAT IF YOU LIVE IN A PLACE THAT DOES NOT HAVE A TRIAD PROGRAM, YOU WILL HELP TO START ONE.

OTHER EXCITING PARTNERSHIP EFFORTS THAT OVC IS HELPING TO FUND ARE SERVICE CENTERS FOR ALL CRIME VICTIMS -- PLACES WHERE VICTIMS, INCLUDING SENIORS, CAN GO TO RECEIVE ALL OF THE SERVICES THEY NEED. ONE SUCH PROGRAM WAS INITIATED IN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA. THE CENTER IS LOCATED IN A VICTORIAN HOME WHERE ALL VICTIMS CAN RECEIVE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, ASSISTANCE WITH COMPENSATION CLAIMS, AND INTERACT WITH SUPPORT GROUPS, SUCH AS MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING AND PARENTS OF MURDERED CHILDREN WHICH ARE ALSO CO-LOCATED THERE. THE FACILITY HAS AN EMERGENCY FUND -- WHICH PAYS FOR REPAIRING BROKEN WINDOWS AND LOCKS, AS WELL AS NEEDED FOOD AND MEDICINES.

MANY OF THE VICTIMS SERVED IN JACKSONVILLE ARE ELDERLY. FOR EXAMPLE, A 73-YEAR-OLD WOMAN WAS RECENTLY TIED UP, PUT IN A CLOSET, AND ROBBED BY A MAN SHE HIRED TO MOW HER LAWN. AMONG THE POSSESSIONS STOLEN FROM THE WOMAN WAS HER SPACE HEATER. A CENTER STAFF MEMBER TOOK THE VICTIM TO THE STORE, ALLOWED HER TO PICK OUT A NEW HEATER, AND PAID FOR IT WITH MONEY FROM THE CENTER EMERGENCY FUND. THE VICTIM ALSO RECEIVED COUNSELING AND WAS ACCOMPANIED TO COURT WHERE HER COURAGEOUS PARTICIPATION LED TO A STIFF PRISON SENTENCE BEING IMPOSED AGAINST HER ASSAILANT.

EVERY COMMUNITY SHOULD HAVE A CENTER LIKE THE ONE IN JACKSONVILLE WHICH PROVIDES COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES TO ALL CRIME VICTIMS IN A SETTING THAT IS ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR THEIR NEEDS. YOU CAN HELP BUILD THE COALITION NEEDED TO BEGIN SUCH A CENTER IN YOUR OWN COMMUNITY.

OUR OFFICE IS ABLE TO HELP FUND THESE KINDS OF EFFORTS BECAUSE WE ADMINISTER A UNIQUE FORM OF JUSTICE. IT IS CALLED THE CRIME VICTIMS FUND, AND ITS MONEY IS DERIVED -- NOT FROM TAXPAYERS -- BUT FROM FINES LEVELED AGAINST FEDERAL CRIMINAL OFFENDERS. WE DISTRIBUTE 90% OF THESE FUNDS TO STATES TO SUPPORT VICTIM ASSISTANCE AND VICTIM COMPENSATION PROGRAMS. THIS AMOUNTED TO ABOUT $200 MILLION LAST YEAR. MANY INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL ARE FUNDED THROUGH OUR FEDERAL GRANTS.

IN ANOTHER PARTNERSHIP EFFORT, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO, THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT COMBINED FORCES WITH U.S. ATTORNEYS AROUND THE COUNTRY TO BRING THE LARGEST FEDERAL ACTION EVER AGAINST FRAUDULENT TELEMARKETERS WHO PREY UPON ELDERLY VICTIMS. LAST DECEMBER, THE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCED A TWO-YEAR JOINT FEDERAL AND STATE UNDERCOVER OPERATION WHICH RESULTED IN THE ARREST OF MORE THAN 400 DISHONEST TELEMARKETERS WHO TARGETED ELDERLY VICTIMS IN OVER A DOZEN STATES. AT THE TIME THE ATTORNEY GENERAL REMINDED US THAT "TELEPHONE PITCHES FROM ELICIT BOILER ROOM OPERATIONS COST AMERICANS $40 BILLION A YEAR." HOW WAS THIS MASSIVE CASE MADE POSSIBLE? THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP -- THROUGH THE COOPERATION OF DOZENS OF VOLUNTEER RETIREES RECRUITED THROUGH AARP WHO POSED AS TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBERS AND TAPE RECORDED THE ILLEGAL ACTIVITY. THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN OLDER AMERICANS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT WAS THE KEY TO COMBATING THIS MASSIVE TELEMARKETING FRAUD -- TO ENSURING THAT HUNDREDS OF CONMEN WILL BE PROSECUTED AND THAT THOUSANDS OF OTHERS WILL BE DETERRED.

ANOTHER DETERRENT TO CRIMES AGAINST THE ELDERLY IS THE 1994 CRIME LAW. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND THE PRESIDENT FOUGHT HARD FOR THE PASSAGE OF THIS LAW WHICH PUTS 100,000 MORE COPS ON THE STREETS AND MAKES THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT THE LAW OF THE LAND. IT ALSO RECOGNIZES THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF TELEMARKETING FRAUD AND SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASES PENALTIES FOR THAT CRIME. THE LAW RAISED THE PENALTY FOR TELEMARKETING FRAUD BY FIVE YEARS AND BY AN ADDITIONAL TEN YEARS IF TEN OR MORE SENIOR CITIZENS ARE HARMED OR TARGETED.

TOGETHER, BY FORMING PARTNERSHIPS LIKE TRIAD AND CREATING VICTIM SERVICE CENTERS, LIKE THE ONE IN JACKSONVILLE, AROUND THE COUNTRY, WE CAN COMBAT CRIME EFFECTIVELY AND RESPOND TO ITS VICTIMS. OVC IS COMMITTED TO THAT EFFORT AND HOPES THAT THOSE OF YOU LISTENING TO THIS BROADCAST WILL INITIATE AND JOIN PARTNERSHIPS ALONG WITH US TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OLDER AMERICANS.