Cass County Sheriff's Corner: TRIAD is back for seniors – Pine and Lakes Echo Journal

WALKER — This month, we are excited to announce that we look forward to hosting our first TRIAD meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. June 27.

After a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other restrictions, reorganizing our TRIAD group is a priority for our office in 2024.

The meeting will be held at the Hackensack Hub located at 213 First St., Hackensack, MN 56452. We have reserved the Hub from 10 a.m. to noon that day.

We look forward to the opportunity to introduce ourselves and discuss the future of the TRIAD program in Cass County.

TRIAD's primary goal is to promote the safety of older adults and reduce the fear of crime they often experience. TRIAD is a partnership of three organizations:

• Law enforcement.
• The elderly.
• Community groups.

TRIAD has benefits for both seniors and law enforcement.

Law enforcement helps seniors by making them aware of local law enforcement and providing information to protect them and others in their community. Older adults assist law enforcement by being the “eyes and ears” of communities.

Crimes targeting the elderly are different in that victims are sought because of perceived vulnerabilities. Working together, TRIAD volunteers develop and implement crime prevention and education programs for older adults.

TRIAD is not an acronym; this simply represents a group of three. TRIAD's goal at its inception, as it is today, is to reduce crime against the elderly and reduce the fear of crime that older adults often experience.

To achieve this goal, TRIAD promotes and facilitates the ongoing exchange of information between law enforcement, community groups/senior providers, and the older adults they serve.

Seniors' ideas, as well as their time and efforts as volunteers, are essential to TRIAD's success. Members of SALT (Seniors and Law Enforcement Working Together), working with experienced and knowledgeable volunteers, create effective solutions to many problems faced by seniors.

An annual State TRIAD conference is held each fall. One of the most important parts of the state conference is the “Best Practices” session, which allows counties to share what they are doing to improve senior safety in their county and for other counties to learn new ideas, network and collaborate.

Another important benefit is the development of relationships between seniors, senior care providers, and law enforcement throughout the state.

TRIAD was created in 1988 when the American Association of Retired Persons, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs' Association came together to try to define a way to help protect older adults from crime. (Information shared on the MN TRIAD website at mnsheriffs.org)

By meeting locally, we will once again have the opportunity to engage with our seniors and the issues that affect them, including scams, security issues, fraud, etc.

If you have ideas on the type of presentations or training you would like to see offered, please bring your ideas to discuss at the meeting. We can't wait to see everyone.

If you have specific questions that you would like answered in this column or in person, please feel free to contact me at any time using any of the following methods: email [email protected]; call 218-547-1424 or 1-800-450-2677; by mail or in person at the Cass County Sheriff's Office, 303 Minnesota Ave. W, PO Box 1119, Walker, MN 56484.

Bryan Welk is the sheriff of Cass County.