John Hopkins geriatrician Dr. Robert Burton has heard far too many stories like that of Nancy Schmidt, the 74-year-old woman who was attacked in her Remington home this week.
"I think older people are particularly vulnerable to crime ..." Burton said, ticking off horror story after horror story of patients he has known who have been similarly victimized. "Particularly single women living alone are somehow preferentially targeted."
From 1993 to 2002, people age 65 or older were less likely to be victims of violent and property crimes than younger persons, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
FOR THE RECORD
An article in Friday's editions of The Sun misidentified the director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatric Education Center. His name is Dr. John R. Burton.
The Sun regrets the error.
Still, experts say, it is true that older Americans need to be especially vigilant when it comes to all kinds of crimes, particularly those of fraud, identity theft and telemarketing scams.
"It's a terrible thing to have happen; everyone's upset by it," said Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for Baltimore police, about the Schmidt case. "It's a situation we have with these seniors who live alone and they are vulnerable to things that younger people might not be."
Although it isn't clear that the victimization rate of seniors is any higher than that of other age groups, "the consequences are more severe," said Bob Blancato, national coordinator of the Elder Justice Coalition. "Whether it's the physical harm or the psychological harm done or the financial loss, it's much harder to recover from if you're older."
Based in Washington, the Elder Justice Coalition has been the chief advocate for the Elder Justice Act, a bill introduced by Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat, that aims to make elder abuse more of a focus in crime prevention.
"Criminals prey on all people, but they particularly prey on older people because they recognize them as an easy victim to get," said Blancato, who testified last week before the House subcommittee on crime about the merits of the bill.
"Sometimes they're more trusting even though they have no reason to be," Blancato said. "Once they let down a guard of any kind, then you have an invitation for trouble."
Burton, who is director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatric Education Center, has known patients who have done just that.
One patient went in her house through a side door with groceries and left the door unlocked. Then, a stranger knocked on the front door. As she talked to him, another person slipped in the side door and began to steal items her home.
