Police Knowledge of Older Populations: The Impact of Training, Experience, and Education

Older populations are growing at a rapid pace in America, creating new challenges for service related industries, including law enforcement. Since police officers will undoubtedly have more interaction with older populations over the next 20 years, it is critical that attention is also given to their knowledge of these populations. Most research focusing on this issue examined police chiefs and college students ’ opinions about laws and penalties for elder abuse and their perceptions of older populations in general. The present study concentrates on officer knowledge of older populations, and examines 126 police officers of all ranks in New Jersey. We find that formal education of the officers as well as their training both lead to increased knowledge of older populations. Policy implications surrounding this study are also discussed. The term “old ” has typically been used to denote people 65 years of age or older in the United States; an age that was once considered the last stage of a person’s life. But, with better nutrition and medical advances, life expectancy of Americans has steadily increased over the past century. The 65 and over population has increased in number from 3 million to 35 million during the 19th century, and the population age 85 and over increased from 100,000 to 4.2 million during the same time period (Federal, 2004). As the medical profession discovers more about the human body, these population increases will likely burgeon as will the social, economic, and justice related issues and concerns that these populations generate. On average, a male child born in 1990 will live 75 years while a female child will live to age 80 or older (Cockerham, 1991). Moreover, while the population age 65 and over currently accounts for just over 12 % of the population, it is predicted to expand to 20 % by the year 2030, doubling its overall population numbers during this time (Federal, 2004). Some hypothesize a more intense growth of older populations, calculating that they will account for 25 % of the population by 2025 (Treas, 1995). In addition, those age 85 and older are expected to increase at an even faster pace, increasing from 4.2 million in 2000 to nearly 2