Senior Fraud Remains Highest Underreported Crime

Older Americans Month is celebrated each May to honor and recognize the elderly for the contributions they make to our families, communities and society. Unfortunately, recent statistics show that the elderly still remain a particularly vulnerable population  faced with mounting health problems and dwindling financial resources.  The golden years aren’t serving as valuable time spent with loved ones and friends. According to a Harris Interactive survey of 62 senior citizens, 80 percent of seniors were concerned about falling victim to some type of financial fraud.  The last thing seniors need to worry about is their physical or financial security.  Yet, the reality remains—seniors are far more likely to become victims of financial fraud than they are of violent crime.

According to www.fbi.gov, senior citizens are most likely to have a “nest egg,” to own their home, and to have excellent credit. Unfortunately, that has made them targets for heartless swindlers who often prey on their needs and dreams, even depleting their hard-earned life savings.  These con artists are creative and deceptive, especially now more than ever with the use of today’s fast and innovative hi-tech gadgets.

 NCPC offers tips for seniors to help them stay safe

• Never give out a credit card number or social security number to anyone who has called you
• Beware of people with stock tips, “sure thing” investment opportunities and similar “secret” ways to make you rich
• Never let anyone rush you into signing documents
• Take time to review and get advice on insurance policies, sales agreements, and contracts of any kind

Senior fraud remains one of the most underreported crimes in the country and has become difficult to both track and examine.  Once defrauded, many seniors feel ashamed and embarrassed, thinking they should have known better and may even withdraw from loved ones. Unfortunately, the result in many cases is that they decide not to tell anyone, especially their adult children or their local law enforcement officer.
 
NCPC can help educate and empower our senior members of the community, and help contribute to their overall physical and financial safety.  The last worry for them should be the possibility of becoming a victim of senior fraud.

We invite you to share your success stories. What are you doing to help keep seniors safe and increase their quality of life in your community?  Visit www.ncpc.org for additional resources and useful tips on preventing crimes against seniors.

The Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) program is pleased to announce that we will celebrate our 10th anniversary this May!

The VIPS program was started as a part of USA Freedom Corps, initiated by President George W. Bush, to build on the countless acts of service, sacrifice, and generosity that followed September 11th. With the support of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the International Association of Chiefs of Police launched the VIPS program in May of 2002

One core element of the VIPS website, www.policevolunteers.org, is the program database both for individuals looking to volunteer and for volunteer managers looking for new ideas. In its first month of existence, the database contained 74 registered programs in 29 states. Today there are more than 2,250 programs with 252,000 volunteers representing all 50 states and 19 international locations. In the last year, VIPS volunteers contributed more than 2 billion hours of volunteer service.

In recognition of our milestone year, we have set a goal to register 200 new programs during 2012. By offering a more comprehensive database of VIPS programs, we will present a more accurate and complete picture of law enforcement volunteerism and effectively direct potential volunteers to programs that fit their needs. You can help us by reaching out to your local law enforcement agency and encouraging them to register their program on the VIPS website.

Over the past 10 years, the roles volunteers play in law enforcement have expanded significantly. Volunteers support all types of law enforcement work from community events to investigations. Here are just a few examples:

• Pasadena, California, Police Department volunteers assisted more than 800 victims of identity theft in the last year.
• Numerous theft and drug arrests have been made thanks to Rolla, Missouri, Police Department volunteers’ work on tracking pawn tickets and purchases of methamphetamine ingredients.
• A volunteer with the Aurora, Colorado, Police Department has submitted 35 composite sketches to detectives, the first of which led officers to arrest a suspect charged with robbery and kidnapping within two weeks.

Read more about the many innovative ways law enforcement agencies engage volunteers to keep communities safe in Volunteers in Police Service Add Value While Budgets Decrease.

 To learn more about volunteering with law enforcement and to find opportunities in your area, visit www.policevolunteers.org.

Many people across the United States understand gang violence or have been victimized by gang violence and activity in their neighborhoods and communities, but what is the effect on gangs and gang violence on business owners?

Gang violence is a critical social and economic issue and it extracts a high toll on the general public, as well as the business community. For example, in the city of Los Angeles alone, there are over 400 gangs with more than 39,000 members, according to the Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles.  Imagine the effects that gang activity and violence has on the businesses where the gangs reside, and the impact it has on both potential investors and customers that patronize these businesses.  Small businesses lose customers, which results in the loss of revenue, loss of funds due to theft, graffiti clean-up, and business restoration. If a gang decides to claim a territory as its own, this often puts fear into current and potential customers and prevents them from patronizing the business.

In addition to all the other negative effects of youth joining gangs, young people who become gang members are an economic burden to society. The cost of incarcerating gang members actually exceeds annual expenses at top private universities, which can total about $60,000 per student for tuition, room, and board. A modern estimate is that nearly 600,000 adult inmates arrive on the doorsteps of communities throughout the country each year (Petersilia, 2003, p. 3). More people are leaving prison today than at any other time in history, and many lack preparation for life on the outside, according to Petersilia’s study. Communities and businesses must redirect their resources to provide training for youth, so that gang members move from being institutionalized criminals of society, to college graduates and taxpayers of which we can be proud.  A great example of this is Homeboy Industries. Homeboy Industries assists at-risk and former gang-involved youth to become positive and contributing members of society through job placement, training, and education (http://homeboy-industries.org). Gang-involved youth can transform from damaging the businesses in their neighborhoods, to one day perhaps owning one.  

Another often overlooked cost of gang violence is the medical and financial consequences. The total volume of crime is estimated to cost Americans $655 billion each year (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2004), and it is reasonable to assume that gangs are responsible for a substantial proportion. Gangs in the United States have long had a significant economic crime impact (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1997; Valdez, 2000).

As is apparent in these statistics, gangs are a very dangerous and expensive problem to businesses and communities.  There are strategies that can be undertaken to address this issue. One is for the businesses to unite and create a business crime watch.  With businesses looking out for each other and reporting suspicious activity, they can let gang members know that their activity is unacceptable to the community.  Couple business crime watch with involvement by all sectors of law enforcement; city, county, and state government; and community members working cohesively to develop strategies and short- and long-term goals to address gang violence, and that can help the community become a healthier place to live, work, and conduct business.  For additional information on gang strategies, fact sheets, bulletins, and webinars, please visit NCPC’s gang prevention pages under resources or clickhere.