ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Rock Island Police Department is restarting a program so it can better assist the city's elderly community.
Officer Dion Brooks was named the new Elderly Service Officer. The program he oversees is meant to help advocate and support people in Rock Island ages 60 and over. He'll be investigating allegations of elder abuse and neglect and teaching about common scams and fraud.
"The way I view this program is a way for those that kind of get lost in the shuffle to be able to make their complaints to someone who can understand," Brooks said. "Not that anyone intentionally forgets about the elderly. Sometimes they're kind of overlooked because folks believe that a lot of them have folks that were related to them, they look after them and sometimes those are the very people who were victimizing them."
One of the most common scams he sees in the area is family members funneling money from retirement funds or bank accounts.
He thinks it's important for the ESO to be able to relate and talk to people.
"They have to feel linked to you in some way or another, that you care," Brooks said. "When that position went away, a lot of these folks were afraid to say anything to anyone because they really didn't know who they could trust."
The Elderly Service Officer Program was established in Rock Island in 1993 but was put on pause before the pandemic due to staffing shortages.
"The truth be told, we're going to continue to have staffing shortages, and so this isn't something that we can just put to the side any longer," Rock Island Police Chief Tim McCloud said. "We've got to make sure that we are still offering this service to our community."
Officer Brooks said the best way to reach out for help with the elderly community is to contact the Rock Island Police Department's non-emergency phone number at 309-732-2677. A dispatcher will then connect you with Officer Brooks.
You can get to know more about Officer Brooks here. News 8 featured him for his work as a beat cop in 2017.