„Let´s Protect Each Other“ In compliance with the appeal of European Criminality Prevention Award 2016 the project of the City Police Corps of Čadca is presented under the title „Let´s Protect Each Other“ „Chráňme sa navzájom“ Presented by: srž.Mgr.Marcela Voreková, Department crime prevention of the City Police Corps in Čadca

PROJECT OBJECTIVES : „Prevention of Crimes Commited on Seniors“. The project has been evaluated and has reached its objectives. It is based on mutual cooperation among the municipalities, police and seniors. It is therefore applicable by various organisations and groups also in other EU member states.

The project focuses On active seniors who were willing to participate in voluntary activities such as visiting lonely seniors, friends and acquaintances with the aim of informing them on the project called “Let´s Protect Each Other”. The project also deals with passive seniors as the recipients of the information on their own safety and protection.

Main Ideas and Objectives of the Project Improvement of lonely seniors´ safety Strengthening of seniors´ ability to make independent decisions Strengthening of own competences Minimizing of the number of crimes committed on seniors Integration activities support – opportunity to participate in voluntary activities

The main activities of the project involve: Active seniors Passive seniors

The main activities of the project involve: Education activities for active seniors (volunteers) with the aim of improving safety of these seniors.

Informing passive seniors through trained active seniors and the consequent improvement of safety of the other - especially lonely seniors.

What can a senior acquire by education? - seniors became familiar with thr particulas cases of crimal offence - learning more details about the tricks used by offenders - receive guldelines and recommendations on what to do and what to avoid in the particular situations

Organized crime groups use various scenarios to steal money from seniors and the most popular scenarios are as follows: “Relative in the hospital” - The perpetrator pretends his relative is in the hospital in serious condition and needs money for the surgery. He asks the senior for a money loan and offers false money in different currency as a guarantee. “Grandchild/ nephew in need” – The perpetrator picks up an older person in yellow pages, looking for names that are typical for the older generation. He calls the seniors and pretends he is his grandchild or nephew and asks for money to buy something or just to loan the money. If the senior agrees to provide the money, the perpetrator explains he cannot come personally but his friend will pick up the money. The perpetrator pretends to be “the employee of the gasworks, waterworks or power station or a doorknocker”. They pretend the senior is supposed to get reimbursement. Perpetrators use bank notes in high amount, so they need to get the change back from the senior. They see where the senior keeps the money and after that they ask for a glass of water to get the possibility to steal the money. “Employee of the charity” – The perpetrator pretends to be from a charity and is going to monitor the conditions the senior lives in, in order to provide him financial support from charity. He gives a senior a bank note and needs to get the change back, so he sees where the senior keeps the money and tries to distract the senior to steal the money.

The seniors taking part in the training (volunteers) received: - information brochures -reflective elements -door stickers with important telephone numbers to be contacted in case of any suspicion -notepads with the list of seniors contacted

The activities are performed with help of the City Police Corps in Čadca, Police Corps of the Slovak Republic in Čadca, social workers of the nursing home for pensioners in Čadca, doctors and social workers provided by the Municipal Office in Čadca.

Outcomes of the project: During the 4 year period, we have trained 602 seniors who have informed other1889 seniors. The total number of seniors involved in the project during the 4 year period is in total 2491 seniors. Celkovo sme vyškolili za 4 roky – 602 seniorov, ktorý odovzdali informácie ďalším 1889 seniorov. Celkový počet seniorov zapojených do projektu je za 4 roky 2491 seniorov.

Evaluation of the Project The evaluation process is performed annually. Form: of guestionnaries of personal interviews After completing the first stage of the project (education) After completing the second stage of the project (visits and contacts with passive seniors)

Benefits Brought by the Project: Benefit for seniors and active elderly citizens in form of their own self fulfillment. Benefit for the municpality, community and society as a whole

Innovativeness of the Project The project is innovative due to its attitude to seniors and due to its content as it deals not only with individual safety of active seniors but also with safety of other, especially lonely seniors. It also deals with their social integration, self-fulfillment and improvement of the quality of their life.

Cost of the project: Human resources: Material costs of the project: Providing or renting of the conference room, data projector, projection screen, education materials, leaflets, stickers and other promotion materials, office equipment etc. Human resources: Professionals provided by the City and State Police Corps and involved in the criminality prevention process on the local levels able to recommend particular seniors qualified to participate in the project.

2015 – self funding by the Town of Čadca in the amount of 1200€ The project was funded and supported in the particular years as follows: 2013 – supported by the Council of Government for Criminality prevention in the amount of 1000€ + co-funding by the Town of Čadca in the amount of 500€ 2014 – supported by the Council of Government for Criminality prevention in the amount of 2450€ 2015 – self funding by the Town of Čadca in the amount of 1200€

Thank you for your attention. Contacts: mjr.Mgr.František Linet Head of City Police Corps Čadca Slovakia Tel: +421907 886 585 E:mail: mspcadca@gmail.com Web: www.policia.mestocadca.sk srž.Mgr.Marcela Voreková Department crime prevention City Police Corps Čadca Tel: +421915 494 655