Sheriff's Corner: TRIAD Senior Security Group returns to action in Cass County – Brainerd Dispatch

This month, we are excited to announce that we look forward to hosting our first TRIAD meeting, scheduled for June 27 at 10 a.m. After a pause due to the COVID pandemic and other restrictions, reorganizing our TRIAD group is a priority for our office. in 2024. The meeting will take place 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 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, networking and collaboration! Another important benefit is the development of relationships between seniors, elder 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 can be found at mnsheriffs.org.

By coming together locally, we will once again have the opportunity to engage our older population and the issues that affect them, including scams, security issues, fraud, and more. 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 any specific questions that you would like answered in this section or in person, please feel free to contact me at any time using any of the following methods: By email at

[email protected]

; by telephone at 218-547-1424 or 800-450-2677; or by mail or in person at the Cass County Sheriff's Office, 303 Minnesota Ave. W, PO Box 1119, Walker, MN, 56484.