Policy Text
TRAINING BULLETIN
Evaluation Coordinator: Commander
Automatic Revision Cycle: Years
partment Training Bulletins shall be used to advise members of current police techniques and
procedures and shall constitute official policy.” Index Number: IV-M
Alpha Index: Elder Abuse Date of Issue / Revision
30 Mar 01
“De
Police Response to Elder Abuse
Introduction
Elder abuse often goes unreported.
Experts suggest that the number of domestic el der abuse cases reported to Alameda County Adult
Protective Services (APS), as in other counties, represents only the tip of an iceberg.
In domestic settings, elder abuse is a serious prob lem, often concealed by an elder's family, which
affects hundreds of thousands of elderly people across the country.
In some situations, an officer's preconceptions about the elderly prevent the officer from
recognizing domestic elder abuse wh en he or she comes upon it.
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Elder Abuse, Index Number IV-M
The Most Likely Victims
Elderly persons who have severe mental or physical impairments are the most likely to be abused
or neglected.
As their dependency increases, elderl y persons become more vulnerable.
If an elder is in poor health and/or has little social support, his or her vulnerability for all types of
abuse increases.
Although the majority of victims are female, elder abuse affects individuals of both genders.
The Most Likely Abusers
There are no common characteristic s that identify elder abusers.
However, family members who have mental, emotional, or substance-abuse problems may be
most likely to abuse an elder.
Adult children and involuntary caregivers who are emotionally or financially dependent on the
victim may also abuse an elder.
An abuser often blames others for his or her problems and may shift his or her anger from a feared
authority figure to the elderly person. When the abuser is a son or daughter, he or she often confuses roles, expecting the parent to meet a wide range of his or her emotional needs.
An elderly person's needs may be so great that those needs deplete the energies of the caregiver and undermine the caregiver's ability to provide care. Over time, frustration and anger mount and
may result in abuse. Drug or alcohol abuse, unemployment, or mental disability in the caregiver
can increase the problem.
Elder Abuse Defined
"Elder" means any person sixty-five years of age or older.
The Welfare and Institutions Code Section 15610.07 defines elder abuse as either of the following
acts: (a) Physical abuse, neglect, financial abuse, abandonment, isolation, abduction, or other treatment
with resulting physical harm or pain or mental suffering
(b) The deprivation by a care custodian of goods or services that are necessary to avoid physical
harm or mental suffering.
Penal Code Section 368(a) provides the following additional protection for elder adults:
The Legislature finds and declares that crimes against elders and dependent adults are deserving of
special consideration and protection, not unlike the special protections provided for minor
children, because elders and dependent adults may be confused, on various medications, mentally
or physically impaired, or incompetent, and therefore less able to protect themselves, to
understand or report criminal conduct, or to testify in court proceedings on their own behalf.
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20 Mar 01 ● Oakland Police Department
Types of Elder Abuse
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse generally means actions taken by a caregiver against an elder which violate the
Penal Code.
The signs of physical abuse listed below are not all prima facie evidence of criminal conduct, but
they are reasonable cause for investigation.
• Any injury incompatible with explanation
• Cuts, pinch marks, scratches, lacerations, or puncture wounds
• Bruises, welts, and/or discolorations, particularly when such bruises, welts, and discolorations
are located on the upper arms or clustered on the trunk, are in different stages of healing, or
reflect the shape of an article used to inflict the injury
• Dehydration and/or malnutrition without an explainable cause
• Poor skin hygiene, pallor, sunken eyes or cheeks
• Lack of bandage on injuries or of stitches wh ere needed or evidence of unset bone fractures
• Frequent use of the emergency room and/or hospital or healthcare "shopping"
Physical abuse may also occur without criminal intent when the elderly person requires a level of
care beyond the capacity of the car egiver, and/or there is a lack of appropriate supervision.
This type of physical abuse may be indicated by the following conditions:
• Unsafe conditions in the home
• The lack of necessary health aids such as walkers, canes, or commodes
• Lack of heat, food, or water
Sexual exploitation or abuse may be indicated by torn, stained, or bloody underclothing or by
bruises, swelling, or cuts on genitalia or anal areas.
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Elder Abuse, Index Number IV-M
Neglect
Increasingly, neglect is the most common form of elder abuse in domestic settings.
Welfare and Institutions Code S ection 15610.57 defines neglect as, "The failure of any person
having the care or custody of an elder or dependent adult to exercise that degree of care which a reasonable person in a like position would exercise."
Neglect may be caused by intention or by the caregiv er's lack of knowledge or capacity to care for
an older person.
Financial Abuse
A person who commits financial abuse is a person who has the care or custody of or who stands in
a position of trust to an elder adult and who takes, secretes, or appropriates the elder adult's money
or property for any wrongful use or with the intent to defraud.
Examples of financial abuse of an elder include cashing an elder person's check without his or her permission; forging