
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 18, 1995                   TAG: 9504180124
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BREEA WILLINGHAM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AARP JOINS POLICE TO COMBAT CRIME OLDER CITIZENS FACE

Roanoke Valley law enforcement officers and representatives of the American Association of Retired Persons on Monday announced a partnership to try to reduce crime against senior citizens.

Such partnerships, called Triads, consist of a locality's sheriff, police chief and an AARP representative or another senior citizen leader.

The Triads' advisory councils, known as SALT - Seniors and Lawmen Together - will plan activities and programs such as educating seniors about fraud and scams, of which seniors are more likely to be victims than of violent crimes.

Melvin Anderson, president of the Eureka chapter of the AARP in Roanoke, said his members are afraid to speak out against crime. He hopes the Triad will help ease their fears.

``I represent the more central part of Roanoke such as the Northwest, upper Northwest and Southwest, and my members feel that if they say something they'll get retaliation for it,'' Anderson said.

Roanoke County Police Chief John Cease said police don't know how many senior citizens are victims of crimes, because the ages of victims are not always recorded. The Triad will provide a way to track crime against older residents, he and law enforcement officials said at the meeting.

``The key is, anytime you can build bridges in the community to foster a transfer of knowledge, it's important. This is a good resource to find out what's going on in the community,'' Cease told the group, which met at the main Roanoke Public Library.

``I'm very excited about this. This is a way to educate seniors on how they can cooperate with the police department and what to do if they need assistance,'' said Oather Duncan, director of AARP's District 2 chapter in Radford.

According to Triad coordinator Elizabeth Loving, the Roanoke Valley is the fourth area in Virginia to adopt the program.

``We've had three signings since the beginning of the year - in Christiansburg, Bedford and Botetourt [County] - and Virginia Beach is about to do something,'' Loving said. ``We're really pleased with the way things are going.''

by CNB