REMARKS
NYPD's training for officers on dealing with elderly victims and following up on cases
2:29:10
·
3 min
Josh Levin provides insights into NYPD's training for officers on dealing with elderly victims of fraud and the importance of follow-up in these cases.
- Recruit training materials specifically address handling elderly abuse cases
- Officers are taught to maintain contact with elderly victims beyond just taking the initial complaint
- Follow-up calls, visits, and wellness checks are encouraged to ensure ongoing support
- The training emphasizes the importance of assuring elderly victims that someone is looking out for them
- Officers are educated on resilience plans, including guardianship issues, power of attorney, and the use of safe words in families
Josh Levin
2:29:10
So this bill does deal with education of training at the department.
2:29:13
So I dove into a lot of our recruit materials, and I wanna change just to to rep that just a little bit here at the hearing.
2:29:19
So there's just one other thing I wanna say.
2:29:21
The recruits are specifically in the case of an elderly abuse.
2:29:24
Right?
2:29:24
They are taught to stay in contact with the victim past taking the complaint, and to specifically provide follow-up calls, to visit, to conduct wellness checks, to check-in, and to assure them that they have somebody watching out for them.
2:29:40
I mean, we we care.
2:29:41
I know sometimes that doesn't always come across, but we're trying to do the right thing by people.
2:29:46
That's all.
Crystal Hudson
2:29:46
Yeah.
2:29:46
I think that's my point.
2:29:48
I'm chair of the aging committee, and so, you know, we know those of us to work in the aging space on a regular basis, know how incredibly vulnerable the population is.
2:29:57
And so I think if there's an opportunity for an added level or layer of engagement, so many of these folks who do fall victim to these crimes is because they are socially isolated.
2:30:08
You know?
2:30:08
And and or they maybe haven't received the adequate type of care from a professional because they don't know where to go.
2:30:17
They might be cognitively, you know, declining or impaired.
2:30:21
And so it's not until they show up to a police station, and maybe they say, oh, you know, I I was frauded out of this money or what have you, that then having somebody who's able to identify some of those you know Right.
2:30:35
Characteristics or symptoms of I
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
2:30:36
love in fact that it's codified in the training.
Crystal Hudson
2:30:39
Yeah.
2:30:39
Right.
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
2:30:39
You know?
2:30:39
And that Yeah.
2:30:40
All of this that there's there's multiple layers of training going on to officers.
Crystal Hudson
2:30:45
Yeah.
2:30:45
And that people are trained to to stay in in touch
Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez
2:30:47
and Yeah.
2:30:48
And go you go on to that this joint partnership is really elevated this Yeah.
2:30:51
Promise.
Crystal Hudson
2:30:52
I I know that, you know, the NYPD deals with a lot of different types of victims, but as an older adult advocate, I would just be remiss if I didn't take the opportunity to say whatever extra little added touches you can you can take and make for our older adult population, which is, you know, growing exponentially in this city.
2:31:11
And then we know also just need a little bit extra attention.
2:31:15
And so if they're coming before the department, I just ask that, you know, you you continue to do what you've been doing, but, you know, just I just wanna sort of engrain the idea that older adults are extremely vulnerable.
Spiro Papavlasopoulos
2:31:28
Just just to add to that, I mean, the community affairs bureau has given has gone far to actually take victims to to go shopping where they don't have access to rides.
2:31:40
We have our community affairs officers and corporate pension officers.
2:31:43
Even picking some of the older adults up in certain situations to take them to get just some basic needs of food to the supermarket where they have no access.
2:31:52
I believe the victim in Queens, she had no no transportation.
2:31:57
She was taking care of her elderly husband who was sick at home and cannot leave.
2:32:02
And we actually had a community affairs officer go out and take them to certain locations that they needed just to get by until they got some assistance.
