Interesting family issue

[jdberger]

Is anyone familiar with Elder Abuse laws, practice and how to get police involved? Especially if the Elder is uncooperative?

I'm worried about how my Uncle and his family treat my Grandparents. The abuse isn't physical - it's verbal and emotional (almost like extortion).

[1911su16b870]

Is anyone familiar with Elder Abuse laws, practice and how to get police involved? ...

Call you local PD local line (non emergency) and speak with the Detective Bureau. Voice your concerns with them and see what they say.

[ankyle62]

Or even google your city/county name and elder abuse and see what comes up. I think a lot of cities have a hot line to call.
eg

http://da.lacounty.gov/seniors/default.htm

[tyrist]

If you suspect elder abuse call your local police department immediately.

[Falconis]

What city and county? There are resources out there and the level of difficulty is going to depend on the facts and how difficult your grandfather is. At worst, you may have to get him declared incompetent to care for himself.

I'm sure you can PM anyone here if you don't want to release any private info.

[Steyrlp10]

Just to add that it would be helpful if you knew the treating physician and/or had access to the doctor to help you with this situation. I had a similar thing out-of-state where I had to get the help of the local PD to do a welfare check and get medical backup to observe the family member for 72 hours because he was uncooperative, but obviously unable to care for himself any longer.

In my case, I was lucky enough to get an adult advocate assigned to help us navigate the system -- kind of like CPS.

A little different since you have other family members, but I think you understand what I'm getting at.

Sorry to read about this situation and hope things settle down for the best.

[tom2]

local agency or Adult Protective Services, who will open a case, look into it - and refer to local agency for their input / investigation....



good luck

[jdberger]

Thanks folks.

My Grandparents are pretty proud and private folks - I'm worried about how this is going to effect them.

[Librarian]

If you haven't seen them yet, http://www.aging.ca.gov/default.asp and http://www.dca.ca.gov/consumer/senio...er_abuse.shtml might be helpful, though local agencies are more immediate.

[GMG]

Sorry to hear of your about situation, but all good advise above.

I hope everything works out for your grandparents.

[yzErnie]

Before you contact LE, you should try to have as many examples of the alleged behavior as possible, especially if the victim is not going to be cooperative with LE. This may come via your personal observations, witnesses who observed the behaviors, bank statements showing withdrawls, etc.

My dept aggressively investigates any elder abuse allegation...be it physical, verbal or emotional. Many times if you find some type of emotional or verbal abuse you will also uncover theft and embezzlement is occurring as well.

[Ron-Solo]

As usual, Ernie has good advice.

LASD has their Family Crimes Bureau that handles all cases like this. It is their specialty. Most departments will send a patrol unit out to take an initial report. Then it will go to a detective. Calling a detective unit directly will usually not do any good, since individual detectives only work cases assigned to them.

[melliw]

APS

In LA County....Adult Protective Services will investigate your claim. If they suspect criminal behavior they will then send the report to police. They will do both the physical and financial. Good luck.
Al

[jdberger]

Thanks for the advice, folks. I had the opportunity to talk with a helpful Sergeant this morning. Let's hope that this gets sorted out.

[Ron-Solo]

Best of luck to you. Most cops have a soft spot for kids and the elderly, and will go the extra mile to put away someone who is mistreating them. I know I always did.