it a moving traffic violation, such as driving the wrong way on a one-way street. Thus, when police officers respond to incidents involving elderly persons, a determination must be made of whether the offenses could be attributed to the effects of the aging process. If so, the police offer may decide to refer the elderly individuals to a social service agency that can help them. Such discretionary action on the part of a police officer is dependent for effectiveness on the knowledge and experience of the police officers involved. Without proper training, police officers cannot effectively execute such discretionary decision-making. Importantly, such training for police officers must include a component dealing with the aging process in order to deal effectively with elderly citizens, and to know when they require referral. This approach to dealing with criminal behavior by the elderly requires a proactive approach to policing, wherein community needs are anticipated before they become critical.
Police response to the elderly offender, however, also must take into account the seriousness of the offense (Alston, pp. 202-206, 209). Police may view minor offenses by elderly persons as instances where diversion to treatment and or support facilities are more appropriate than arrest. Serious offenses, however, most often result in arrest, leaving decisions of leniency or diversion to prosecutors or the courts.
Fattah and Sacco (p. 155) observed that the "criminal justice system is supposed to deal with people equally with no regard to their sex, race, social class and so forth." Cutshall and Adams (1983, pp. 1-8) found, however, "a fairly consistent pattern of differential prosecution . . . confirming the proposition that age is a mitigating factor in the enforcement of legal norms." Wilbanks (1988, pp. 275-288) found, however, that elderly offenders are treated more harshly through the conviction stage of the criminal justice...