June 2023: Policing with Vulnerable Populations

GUEST EDITORS David Porter, Heather Dooley, and Emily Burton

Anyone can become a victim to a crime, but some may be more susceptible than others. Older adults, individuals with disabilities, and children, among other groups, are often targeted and disproportionately victimized due to their real or perceived vulnerability. In response, government organizations and police leaders around the world have ramped up their efforts to address the safety of these vulnerable populations and to equip their officers to identify and respond to crimes or other risks to these individuals’ safety and well-being. 

Articles

• Recognizing and Responding to Elder Abuse

  By Andy Mao, National Elder Justice Coordinator, U.S. Department of Justice
  Millions of older people experience some type of abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation every year, with devastating consequences to their physical, social, financial, and psychological well-being....

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• Access to Justice for Cross-Border Victims

  By Magdalena Sigur, Attaché, Homeland Security Investigation, U.S. Embassy, Ottawa, Canada, and Maria McDonald, Deputy Director–Victim Support Strategy Lead, Investigations Support Bureau, Ontario Provincial Police, Canada [currently on secondment with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada]
  Access to justice can be challenging for vulnerable populations, particularly where there is a cross-border, international dimension to the crime. Cross-border victims—be they children, persons with...

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• Better Connections for Better Outcomes

  By Pam Malin, Advocacy Specialist, Victim Advocacy Program, Disability Rights Wisconsin, and Peter Grimyser, Detective/Sergeant, University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Department
  People with intellectual disabilities are disproportionately impacted by victimization. An intellectual disability is a disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functio...

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• Compassionate, Inclusive, and Procedurally Just

  By Will Johnson, Chief Special Agent/Assistant Vice President, BNSF Railway Police
  Now, more than ever, policing leaders and executives must foster the compassionate, inclusive delivery of policing services. To achieve this, law enforcement agencies must engage in proactive effo...

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• Planning for the Unpredictable

  By Tara Hughes, Project Director, Assisting Victims of Mass Violence and Domestic Terrorism, ICF, Inc., and Christine Moulton, Director, UCF Victim Services, University of Central Florida
  The moment a mass violence, mass casualty, or domestic terrorism incident occurs is not the time for responding agencies to meet each other or develop an approach. Planning reduces chaos and mitigate...

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