U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime
December 2001
NCJ 189631

Reviewed by Loree Cook-Daniels

Elderly victims and victims of domestic violence are among the six types of victims law enforcement officers are given specific advice about in an updated Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) publication, “First Response to Victims of Crime.”

The 35-page document begins with a chapter on basic guidelines for approaching victims of crime. These include reminders that the officer is there for the victim (as opposed to the victim being there for the officer), and that crime victims have three major immediate needs: to feel safe, to express their emotions, and to know “what comes next” after their victimization. This section contains specific words officers can use and specific actions they can take to address all three of these needs.

The chapter on elderly victims says that they are twice as likely to suffer serious physical injury and to require hospitalization than any other age group, and tells readers, “10 percent of the elderly are abused by their relatives.” Officers are also told that elderly victims may have worries and fears beyond those typical of other victims: “First, they may doubt their ability to meet the expectations of law enforcement and worry that officers will think they are incompetent. They may worry that a family member, upon learning of their victimization, will also think they are incompetent. Further, they may fear retaliation by the offender for reporting the crime. Finally, elderly people may experience feelings of guilt for ‘allowing’ themselves to be victimized.”

The section devoted to victims of domestic violence is two pages long and cautions officers that because domestic violence “involves years of personal stress and trauma, as well as physical injury…your ability to help victims cope with and recover from their victimization may be limited.”

Appendices include national victim resources and a chart users can customize with the telephone numbers of key local resources.

The handbook is available for downloading at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/firstrep
/2001/NCJ189631.pdf.