Triad Program Designed To Aid Senior Citizens

By Andrew Gorosko

Town officials this week marked the start of a law enforcement program designed to enhance the safety and security of local senior citizens

About 100 residents, many of them senior citizens, attended a midday session July 14 on the Triad program at the Newtown Senior Center on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook.

US Rep Nancy Johnson addressed the session about the value of the Triad program, which forges a partnership among local law enforcement, senior citizens, and social service agencies. The program is designed to reduce the criminal victimization of seniors and to aid them on law enforcement issues.

Mrs Johnson said programs such as Triad are valuable ways to strengthen the fabric of a community. Mrs Johnson also spoke about her participation on a congressional committee that studies aiding senior citizens taking prescription medications.

The Triad program, which is being spearheaded for the police by Patrol Officer Maryhelen McCarthy, seeks to help senior citizens in a variety of ways.

The program, which is a formal cooperative effort among police, social services staffers, and senior citizens, assesses the needs and concerns of older citizens. It is intended to generate a broad public dialogue on safety and security issues.

In the Triad program’s initial project, local senior citizens are receiving “emergency beacon” light bulbs. The specialized light bulbs fit into standard light sockets. When a light switch is turned twice, the light bulb becomes a flashing signal to help police or emergency service workers locate a victim’s home. Police consider such a flashing beacon a valuable aid in quickly locating people who are in distress, especially in the nighttime, when the addresses of residences may not be readily apparent.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe credited Officer McCarthy for her efforts to get the local Triad program underway. Officer McCarthy is aided by Patrol Officer David Kullgren and Patrol Officer Andrew Stinson in the project, Chief Kehoe added.

Participants at the July 14 Triad session signed a document, known as the Triad Cooperative Agreement of Newtown, symbolizing the start of the program.

The local Triad organization has an advisory group known as SALT, an acronym for “seniors and lawmen working together.” That panel will be exploring the unmet needs and concerns of local elderly people. SALT panel members were introduced to the public at the session. The SALT group serves as an advisory panel to local police.

Projects conducted by Triad groups include tasks such as: polling older residents about their needs and concerns; conducting crime prevention programs; running telephone reassurance programs for the isolated and frail elderly; installing large, legible house numbers on the residences of the elderly; sponsoring emergency medical file programs; working with nursing homes; and aiding senior citizens with residential security measures, among other projects.

In Connecticut, the Triad program began in 1992 in Bridgeport. The Newtown Triad program marks the 17th such program in the state. There are Triad programs in operation across the United States.