By Karl Bickel
Frederick County is changing, and our approach to public safety needs to change with it. One of the most important responsibilities of a Sheriff’s Office is protecting the most vulnerable amongst us. Frederick County’s seniors are one of those vulnerable populations.
Our seniors deserve more than a response after any senior is victimized. Our Sheriff’s Office needs to focus on educating seniors on how to avoid situations that expose them to crime and establishing positive, strong relationships with law enforcement and county organizations already serving them.
Today’s seniors face threats that can take many forms, many of which are well known, such as burglary, theft and physical abuse. However, many highly sophisticated schemes using modern means of communication have proliferated. These schemes are designed to defraud unsuspecting seniors of their critical financial assets. The criminals carry out their schemes by contacting seniors via telephone or the Internet, cleverly impersonating authorities that seniors trust, such as police officers, government agencies, banks, Medicare representatives, and even family members. They use fear and urgency to pressure victims into sending money or surrendering personal information.
As Sheriff, I will ensure that the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office will be actively involved in delivering regular, practical safety education directly to our senior community and will work closely with the County’s Division of Aging and Independence and other organizations and providers serving older adults, including other County agencies, senior centers, caregivers, community organizations, financial institutions and other law enforcement agencies.
If elected, I will ensure that the Sheriff’s Office will work towards establishing:
- Regular senior crime-prevention presentations throughout Frederick County;
- Scam and fraud education, including current telephone, internet, Medicare and financial scams;
- Home-safety education addressing burglary, fraud, and people attempting to gain access to seniors’ homes;
- Elder-abuse awareness and reporting information for seniors, families, caregivers and service providers;
- Direct communication between deputies and senior-service organizations so concerns can be identified and addressed quickly;
- Regular meetings with senior representatives so that the Sheriff’s Office hears directly from the people it is responsible for protecting; and
- Information sharing with appropriate County and Frederick City providers when there are recurring scams or emerging threats affecting older residents.
All of this is intended to rebuild trusted relationships between seniors and the Sheriff’s deputies. Building trust prevents crime and creates a two-way street between them. The Sheriff’s Office and its deputies will get to know folks in the senior community, and those folks will trust the deputies to respond to their issues, needs, and questions.
This isn’t about creating more bureaucracy. It’s about putting law enforcement where it can make the greatest difference – in the community, working alongside the people and organizations already serving our seniors.
While the Sheriff’s Office needs to focus on existing senior scams, it also needs to identify new or modified scamming efforts. Criminals never stand still; they always are coming up with even more sophisticated scams. That’s why I want the Sheriff’s Office to establish an ongoing senior-safety outreach effort that keeps residents informed about emerging threats and focuses on the three R’s: Recognize. Refuse. Report:
- Recognize when something doesn’t look or sound right!
- Refuse to be pressured into making an immediate decision!
- Report suspected fraud or abuse and don’t be embarrassed to ask for help!
Importantly, the Office needs to work with the senior community to reduce and eliminate the shame surrounding falling for one of these scams. The only way to combat these criminal efforts is for victims to feel free to approach the Office’s deputies and share their painful experiences fully with law enforcement, without fear of being judged.
In sum, our seniors are our parents, grandparents, neighbors, veterans, business owners, volunteers, and friends. They have spent decades contributing to Frederick County. They deserve a Sheriff’s Office that makes protecting them a priority.
I will work to ensure that every senior in the County will know that they will be able to rely on the Sheriff’s Office to stay abreast of criminal schemes targeting seniors, educate seniors about recognizing and avoiding those schemes, and work with the Sheriff’s Office to apprehend wrongdoers.
Karl Bickel
Candidate for Frederick County Sheriff
