All across the country, protests and movements are calling for police reforms. In response to the racially charged killins of a few men by police recently, these calls are completely justified.
Now, this post is not here to incite political discussion. There are a lot of great forums online and in real life where this discussion is already taking place. If this is something that you are interested in talking more about, I encourage you to do so. These are important conversations and they need to take place if we are going to love our neighbors and help those that need help the most.
This post is here to talk about what defunding the police would mean for the elderly, specifically when it comes to helping those that are facing abuse.
If the police are defunded, who will protect the elderly from abuse?
It’s important to first remember that the police are not the only agency involved in protecting seniors. Adult Protective Services (APS) is also involved in the process. Most of the time, this would be the first call made unless the person in question was in immediate danger. However, although that tends to be the first step, there is a good chance that seniors would be hurt if the police were to vanish. They play an instrumental role in helping the most vulnerable of people, and they give APS the teeth that they need to enforce safety.
Long term, there needs to be legal protections in place to protect the elderly.
Senior citizens deserve to be safe, cared for, and happy. If police force funding is taken away, there’s the potential for a lot of people–not just seniors–to be placed in a vulnerable position. If these cuts are to be made, a strong and working plan must be in place to ensure that the elderly are kept safe. I don’t know what this will look like or if it is even fully possible. When it comes to seniors, more protections are needed to keep them free from abuse and manipulation, not less.
Again, this isn’t meant to be political. It has become a political discussion, and that’s a good thing. It’s a discussion that needs to be had. There are a lot of issues with police overreach and there are certainly bad actors within the various police departments across the country. This doesn’t mean that all police officers are bad or that every single level of law enforcement needs to be abolished. There needs to be some sort of compromise here, if only because police have become the accepted method of keeping civilians safe. There are alternative proposals out there, but none that have really offered any sort of equivalence to what the police currently can offer.
Regardless of what develops on the political front in the coming weeks, months, and years, having a plan in place to help keep your loved one safe as they age is important. At Paradise In-Home Care, that’s what we pride ourselves in doing. We take every precaution that we can to ensure that your family has the best care possible. Each of our caregivers is trained to not just give great, customized care, but also to see the warning signs of abuse and other issues so that steps can be taken early to fix things.
We want to help you, too. Give us a call to set up free consultation to learn more about how in-home care can help keep your family safe.
Leave a Reply