TN Report Shows Rise in Crimes Against the Elderly (TN. USA)

'They are more vulnerable,' first-of-its kind study shows
Aug 2, 2012
Written by Brian Haas
The Tennessean

Julius Taylor was just taking out the trash last week when a young man walked up and asked for a light. He barely had time to respond before the robbery began.
“The next thing I know, he wanted to get my billfold,” said Taylor, 74. “I was fixing to tell him, ‘No you aren’t getting that.’ But when I saw another guy come out of the bushes, I just threw it on the ground.”
Taylor was unharmed and the robbers, who were brothers, were arrested a short time later. But his case adds to the growing number of Tennesseans 65 years old and up who are becoming victims of crime, according to a report released Wednesday by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
The report, the first of its kind in the state, found that crimes with victims 65 years old or older rose by about 7 percent from 2009 through 2011, the same time that the state saw a 5 percent drop in overall crime.
“We did this study so that policymakers, law enforcement officers know that the growing elderly population is increasingly being victimized in the state of Tennessee,” said Kristin Helm, spokeswoman for the TBI. “They are more vulnerable to victimization.”
Seniors targets of burglary, fraud
The report focused on four key areas most likely to affect seniors: robbery, burglary, assaults and fraud. They were disproportionately victims of home burglaries and fraud cases, making up one out of 10 victims of those crimes in the state during the three years studied.

 Abridged
SOURCE:      The Tennessean
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