The Operational Excellence Award Shortlist

Senior Citizen Police Liaison project,The Avon & Somerset Police

The UK has an aging population. By 2030, one in four people in our communities will be over 60 years of age. Older adults are prey to unscrupulous criminals who use deception and artifice to trick and steal money from their senior victims. In 2008/09, Bristol (pop: 450,000) suffered more distraction burglaries than Wales (pop: 3 million).

The average victims of these offences are the most vulnerable people in society, typically female, aged 79 years and living alone. They suffer significant trauma to their lives following victimisation, which can often lead to social isolation, fear and loss of confidence.

The Senior Citizen Liaison Team (SCLT) was established in January 2010 by volunteer officers of the Bishopsworth Policing Team to specifically target the disproportionate number of offences in Bristol, and to reduce the impact of such offending on the senior population. The objective of the SCLT is to provide a crime-prevention and social inclusion service to victims, and potential victims of senior crime.

All the services offered by the SCLT are complementary to normal policing services, and are often carried out in the officer’s own time. This initiative has played a significant part in the reduction of distraction burglaries by 50 per cent in the 2010/11 period.