Contact Programme with local police
Summary
Sangam Vihar in South Delhi, India, is one of the largest unauthorized colonies in India and has no Government services such as water, electricity, and sewage. A community survey revealed that older adults were especially concerned about safety, and that they had very little contact with local law enforcement. A program to facilitate contact between older adults and community street-patrol police officers was implemented in 6 wards of Sangam Vihar, covering around 1800 older adults. With the support of the local political leadership and two local police stations, older adults met their local ward police officers, to ‘put a face with the name’, and were given cards with the phone numbers of all street-patrol police officers. To encourage use, older adults practiced by calling their local police officer, and the police stations created a register of the participating older adults so that they would be recognized if they called in again. In addition, the police officers identified older adults living alone, and carried out periodic visits to their homes. A small follow-up study conducted four months after implementation indicated that over 50% of older adults still had their contact card. While this program shows promise further research is needed to understand the impact on personal security.
Key facts
Main target group: Older people in general
Other target group(s): Older addicts mostly men addicted to alcohol
Sector(s): Information and communication
Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:- Technologies