NCJ Number
231778
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 33 Issue: 1 Dated: 2010 Pages: 37-69
Date Published
2010
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This study provides a description of the nature and character of police interactions with older adults from the social observation of police officers in Ohio.
Abstract
Over the course of the coming decades America will collectively turn "grayer" as members of the baby-boom generation join the ranks of older and elderly adults. These demographic trends will likely impact police organizations and the job of street-level patrol officers. Existing scholarship on police contacts with older adults has focused predominantly on the issue of criminal victimization, however very few studies have been designed to provide data on the typical interaction between police and older adults. The present study uses direct observation of police officers to offer a more complete description of these interactions than those developed through surveys or studies based on official records. The findings demonstrate the non-crime related service demands of this population and the need to move beyond strategies that are focused solely on responding to older adult victims of crime. Tables, notes, and references (Published Abstract)