If you were going to mug someone, would you pick a burly football player or a gray-haired woman with a purse hanging from a thin strap on her elbow?
A thief or mugger would choose the easier mark -- the grandmother over the defensive tackle.
Confidence men and women, or "con-artists," also prefer older victims whose loneliness, isolation and available cash make them vulnerable to scams, say police and advocates for seniors.
"We have found older people tend to have higher victimization rates in con games, purse snatchings and strong-arm robberies," said George Sunderland, manager of criminal justice services for the American Association of Retired Persons.
On the brighter side, he said, seniors have very low rates of being victims of the three most violent crimes -- murder, rape and aggravated assault.
To prevent seniors from being sitting ducks they learn some tricks from Tfc. James Emerick, a state police crime-prevention specialist who is conducting a monthly program through next April at the Westminster Senior Center. Each month, he'll focus on a different way seniors can protect themselves from crime.
Emerick's first talk, conducted Thursday, was on what he called one of the most effective prevention tools -- a Neighborhood Watch program.
Seniors have an important role in neighborhood watches, Emerick said, because they are at home during the day and can keep an eye on neighborhood activities.
"You not only protect yourself, you protect your community and stay active," Emerick told seniors. He said seniors can offer the watch service in exchange for younger neighbors helping them install better locks.
"Young couples work all day and are gone," Emerick said.
"You have the extra hours during the day to call the police when the streetlight is out."
To help watch participants protect property and each other, a trooper will teach them how to survey their homes for weak points where a burglar can get in. Also, the police provide description forms to describe such things as a suspect's hair color, height, age, clothing, license plate number and shape of eyeglasses.
Just this month, an alert neighbor helped police arrest a woman charged with stealing antiques from the elderly owner of Westminster Antiques on Spring Mill Road.
Emerick said state police believe Julie Barnes Wilt, 32, falsely told the dealer that she was a member of the Carroll County Historical Society to learn the value of antiques.
