A special thank you to the sponsors of this event goes out to the Administration on Aging. We also want to thank the Prince Georges County Police TRIAD Officers, and the staff from the Department of Family Services, for coming out and showing your support and helping with this event. Everyone had a wonderful time again this year. Thank you, one and all.

Four tons? I thought it was a misprint. Nearly 4 tons, that’s 7,820 pounds of unused, unwanted and outdated prescription pills that Maine residents dropped off in bins in parking lots throughout the state last week. Four tons! Can you even begin to visualize how many pills that involves?

If last week’s National Take-Back Day didn’t convince officials of the desperate need people have to rid themselves of prescription drug medication, then surely nothing will.

As a state we really outdid New Hampshire, where authorities collected only 2,479 pounds, and Vermont, where 1,127 pounds of pills were deposited. Connecticut collected 5,050 pounds and Rhode Island only 784 pounds. The only state in New England to dispose of more pills last Saturday than Maine was Massachusetts. There they collected 8,550 pounds, a measly 730 pounds more than Maine. Maine’s population is 1.3 million and Massachusetts’ is 6.5 million. In Virginia officials collected 5,000 pounds, and 4,000 pounds in Minnesota.

We clearly had a whole lot of extra medication hanging around in our medicine cabinets. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, U.S Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced just four days after National Take-Back Day that their legislation to allow the safe disposal of medications had passed Congress and was on its way to the president to be signed into law. The Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act will allow states and private agencies to institute responsible drug take-back programs. Federal law now prohibits such programs.

For a brief time the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency was administering a mail-back program, providing residents free, pre-addressed envelopes to mail their unwanted prescription medication to the MDEA office. Funding dried up, however, and the program was phased out. Maine is one of 17 states where deaths by drug overdose outnumber deaths by motor vehicle accidents. Prescription drug abuse is the fastest-growing drug problem in the country. Around the country surveys show that three out of five teenagers say it is easy to steal prescription medications from their parents.

People, even in the most rural parts of our state, are scared their homes may be invaded by drug seekers. Home invasions were almost nonexistent just 10 years ago. Today they are not uncommon.

People are warned not to flush extra medications down the toilet, for they contaminate the groundwater. They are told not to throw them out because they end up in landfills and eventually leach into the soil. They are not allowed to take them to their local police department, and the local pharmacy won’t take them either. Until now, neither the state nor the federal government has provided a safe solution to the problem. Passage of the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act is a good first step, but there is no money attached. The preferred method of disposing of prescription medication is through incineration. If local governments are going to be responsible for collecting unused medication, then local governments most likely will be responsible for their storage and their incineration costs. Most police departments have secure evidence rooms where the drugs could be stored. There are ways to offset incineration fees. Drug forfeiture money could be used to offset the costs to communities. In one Texas community the police department built its own incinerator to dispose of the drugs, and in yet another, a local pet crematorium provides the service free of charge.

Four tons of pills in Maine in one day. Houston, I think we have a problem.

The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA) had its 5th Annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) on Tuesday, June 15, 2010.

This day is held in support of the United Nations International Plan of Action which recognizes the significance of elder abuse as a public health and human rights issue. Many organizations ranging from religious groups and government organizations to professionals in the field of aging, interested individuals as well as older persons themselves will promote a better understanding of abuse and neglect of older persons by organizing activities around the world to raise awareness of the cultural, social, economic and demographic processes affecting elder abuse and neglect.

Elder Abuse Awareness Day was celebrated at “The Mall at Prince George’s” in Hyattsville, Maryland and at the “Iverson Mall” in Temple Hills, Maryland. There were numerous information booths manned by the Prince Georges County Office of the Sheriff Triad Officers, Prince George’s County Police Department, State’s Attorney Office, Maryland Crime Victim’s Resource Center, Inc., The Office of 911, Prince George’s County Health Department, Register of Wills, Prince George’s County Fire Department /EMS, and the Department of Social Services etc. They were assisted by their Explorers who ran the “BINGO” games for the participating seniors. Seniors were informed about neglect, Abuse, Financial Crimes, Scams, Identity Theft and what to look for in everyday situations. They were given health screenings, door prizes and some even had their finger prints done at this event.

Everyone had a wonderful time and they are looking forward to another great event next year.  A special thanks goes out to Lorna Jones and Cindy Buie-Brown for their hard work and dedication to Prince Georges County TRIAD.

Sheriff Prator opened the program expressing his desire to keep every Senior Citizen in Caddo Parish as safe as possible and not losing any of them to fires. Dates for the next program still have not been determined. We will keep you posted when Operation Golden Shield will be in your parish. Visit our Facebook page to view pictures.

Last year alone in Louisiana there were 81 fire related fatalities, 49 of those were senior citizens, which means that 40% of those fatalities were senior citizens.  It is with great desire that we can decrease that number and possibly eliminate as many fatalities as we can in Caddo Parish.

In recognizing that many senior citizens in our community need support to protect themselves from the dangers of fire, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office has partnered with the Louisiana State Fire Marshall’s office to present “Operation Golden Shield”.  This program will be operated from the  Community Programs ‘ Elderly Crime Victims Office.   This is a program designed to place 10-year Lithium smoke detectors in any Caddo Parish senior citizen home, especially targeting those residing in rural Caddo Parish.   Along with the smoke detectors, Frankie Morris (from the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, Elderly Crime Victim Advocate) will be offering 911 emergency cell phones to all seniors in need of one.  She will be presenting these phones especially to the senior citizens in rural Caddo Parish.

The program consists of a 15 – 20 minute power point presentation on Fire Prevention in the home.  After the presentation, Victim Advocate Morris will compile a list of names and addresses of those in need of a smoke detector.  Contact is made with the Representative, Rusty Edwards of the Fire Marshall’s Office.  He in turn, sends the number of smoke detectors to the Community Programs ECVA.

It is a known fact that when given smoke detectors, if seniors have no way of installing them, they usually lay around the house collecting dust and are never get installed. Working with our Auxiliary Deputies we will make contact with the senior to insure the installation of the detectors.

The first program is scheduled for July 15^th, 2010 @ Christus Schumpert’s Auditorium, 9:00am – 9:30am.  Along with  Lt. Rusty Edwards, Arson Investigator (LA State Fire Marshall’s Office) his 2^nd in Command, Chief Dan Wallace will also be in attendance. 

Our next presentation will be set up for Blanchard, then Vivian (rural towns in Caddo Parish). Dates have not been scheduled yet.

 ”Thank you to the helpful gal for sending me information and the 911 telephone.  I especially appreciate the cell phone.  It will give me a sense of security both indoors and outside.”

 Sincerely,

                                          “A recipient from the southern Maine area”

We want to thank Mary Hadlock with the Southern Maine Agency on Aging for sharing this testimonial with us. In addition, we want to extend our gratitude to her as well for helping us to reach out to the seniors in Southern Maine.

This event will be held on Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 10:00 A.M until 12:00 P.M. at the Creative Senior Center 31 Memorial Parkway SW, Fort Walton Beach, FL.

Janine R. Harris, Community Relations Manager, Communities for a Lifetime and Gwen Rhodes, Community Relations Manager, Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging, Inc. will Welcome you to the event and have the opening remarks.

There will be a host of speakers which will include, Joe Stein, Deputy Regional Director, Seniors vs Crime from Region 5, Dana Morris, Assistant Attorney General, Medicaid Control Fraud Unit Office of the Attorney General Office, Arthur Youngblood, Consumer Outreach & Education Coordinator, Florida Department of Financial Services – Safeguard Our Seniors Initiative, Carl Martin, Circuit 1, Operations Program Administrator, Department of Children and Families, Adult Protective Services.

You are welcome to join us during this event. For more information contact Janine Harris at harrisj@elderaffairs.org or 850-414-2373.

They were obviously watching me intently, and there was no doubt they were somehow involved in this very weird situation. I quickly chucked the errand I was on, jumped in my car and sped away.

I went straight to the police station, told them what had happened, and found out I was part of a new, and very successful, scheme being used to gain entry into cars. Two weeks later, my friend’s son had a similar happening…

While traveling, my friend’s son stopped at a roadside rest area to use the bathroom. When he came out to his car less than 4-5 minutes later, someone had gotten into his car and stolen his cell phone, laptop computer, GPS navigator, briefcase…you name it.

He called the police and since there were no signs of his car being broken into, the police told him he had been a victim of the latest robbery tactic there is a device that robbers are using now to clone your security code when you lock your doors on your car using your keychain locking device..

They sit a short distance away and watch for their next victim. They know you are going inside of the store, restaurant, or bathroom and that they now have a few minutes to steal and run. The police officer said to manually lock your car door by hitting the lock button inside the car…that way if there is someone sitting in a parking lot watching for their next victim, it will not be you.

When you hit the lock button on your car upon exiting, it does not send the security code, but if you walk away and use the door lock on your key chain, it sends the code through the airwaves where it can be instantly stolen. This is very real.

Be wisely aware of what you just read and please pass this information on. Look how many times we all lock our doors with our remote just to be sure we remembered to lock them — and bingo, someone has our code…and whatever was in our car.

Monday, May 17, 2010 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. held at the WCCCD – Northwest Campus  -  LSB L-17    8200 W. Outer Drive in Detroit, MI

The purpose of this event is to inform the audience of the many different ways the Sheriff’s office is working to keep the community safe. Topics and information will include: Safety tips, Gang Awareness, Emergency Senior Cell Phones, File of Life, Tether Unit, Internet Security, Narcotics Hotline, Wayne County Sheriff’s Office new website, Dose of Reality Tour, and Deputy Reserves.

 Participants attending this event will:

• Become knowledgeable about what the Sheriff’s office is doing in terms of gang awareness in the community
• Learn safety tips to protect themselves and family
• Receive a report on the other services offered to the community such as internet safety, emergency senior cell phones, etc.

THIS IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT NO COST! Light refreshments will be served. Come out and say hello to Sheriff Benny Napoleon and his staff.

For more information, please contact the School of Continuing Education at 313-496-2704 or the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office at 313-224-0614

Benner said he has received some cell phones for drivers to be used on the buses for emergency purposes thanks to Bob McFetridge and Deb Mullen of Lincoln County Triad. The emergency phones were provided by the 911 Cell Phone Bank (www.911cellphonebank.org) located in Florida.

The cell phones are programmed to make 911 calls only. The phones were provided at no cost. Each driver was provided with the home charger, car charger and two batteries. Brenner is thankful for the 911 emergency phones.  The phones will provide the extra security and safety for the students and the drivers.