A Community Service for Elderly Offenders
| Published date | 01 July 1981 |
| Author | G. R. Markham |
| Date | 01 July 1981 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8105400303 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
G. R.
MARKHAM
ChiefSuperintendent. Divisional Headquarters. Harlow.
A
COMMUNITY
SERVICE FOR
ELDERLY OFFENDERS
In Essex, the police have created aCommunity Services Branch to
help deal with the problems encountered when an elderly person
commits acriminal offence. The system relies on the co-operation of
the social services, the probation branch, and the medical profession
-particularly the GP. The
author
believes
that
taking into account
an elderly offender's medical and social status at an early stage in
criminal proceedings better tempers justice with humanity.
The connexion between the police and the medical profession
in relation to the problems of the elderly may not be immediately
apparent. In this article, I hope to illustrate how developments within
the Essex Police make this connexion amatter of interest,
particularly for GPs.
In England and Wales the police have discretion whetheror not to
prosecute offenders in many of the cases coming to their notice. All
police forces have systems for dealing with juveniles but there has
been no particular regard paid to any other age group. In 1978, the
Chief Constable of Essex had the decision-making function of his
force reviewed.
From
this review grew a decision-making process for
elderly offenders which seems to combinejustice with humanityand,
simultaneously, provide positive assistance to other individuals
and
agencies concerned with the elderly.
Elderly offenders pose special problems for decision-makers.
When some elderly people commit criminal offences, they display
distress unconnected with the offence. There is also evidence that a
few elderly offenders over-react to the situation they find themselves
in and some have even been known to commit suicide after being
accused of a quite minoroffence. Manyelderly offendershavevotcome
to the attention
ofthe
police inthe past and although a police cautionis
seen as a legitimate way of dealing with a juvenile's first offence this
does not necessarily hold truefor the person who has lived a long
and
hitherto blameless life. With these thoughts in mind it was decided to
centralize the decision-makingfunction for elderly offenders within a
newly formed branch of the force known as the "Community
Services Branch".
Initial decisions included the definition of "elderly" as someone
who was 65 or over, but this was later lowered to 60. The system
July 1981
235
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