WORLD WIDE AFRICA THE VOICE OF THE PAN AFRICAN MOVEMENT

SENIORS AGAINST A FEARFUL ENVIRONMENT

"Seniors Against a Fearful Environment (SAFE), a nonprofit corporation, was begun by the Black Panther Party at the request of a group of senior citizens for the purpose of preventing muggings and attacks upon the elderly, particularlywhen they go out to cash their meager social security or pension checks. Prior to approaching the Black Panther Party, the seniors had gone to the Oakland Police Department to request protection. There the seniors were told, to their dismay and outrage, that they "should walk close to the curb" in the future. Mrs. Van Frank, founder of the East Bay Legislative Council of Senior Citizens and the state of California's Outstanding Senior Citizen for 1971, commenting on the dangers experienced by the senior citi­ zens, has remarked: "The fear engendered among us old people by these mug­ gings almost makes us prisoners in our own homes."

A section of a recent funding proposal for the SAFE Program substantiates these claims. A comparative crime study was done over a period of six weeks (August 21 to October 1, 1972) and details conclusively that the age of the victim does bear a de nite relationship to the type ofo ense committed. Ofthe com­ bined total of 249 victims of strong-arm robbery and purse-snatching, 48 per­ cent ofthe victims (118) were overthe age of y. During this same period, only 13 percent of complainants in armed robbery cases fell into the senior citizen category. The conclusion, then, is that an elderly person is more likely to be physically attacked, whereas the younger, more agile person, who is more able to a defend his- or herself, will more likely be the victim of an armed assault. The fact has also been established that 33 percent of all crimes committed in the city of Oakland are committed against senior citizens."