With a change in state law, crimes against the elderly and intellectually disabled are on the rise

The first time Frankie Martinez called police because one of her elderly father’s roommates was intimidating him and refusing to pay rent, she waited on the side of the road for two hours.

When Aurora Police Department patrol officers arrived, they told Martinez and her father there was nothing they could do. They suggested that if her father was scared, he should go home with her.

“Why should he leave his house?” Martinez said. “I felt so helpless and so did Dad.”

The next time Martinez called the Aurora Police Department because of the roommate, she was put in touch with its Special Victims Unit. That’s when she met two detectives who were focused and passionate about crimes against the elderly. Pretty soon, the roommate was out of the house and facing criminal charges.

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/2016/10/01/crimes-against-elderly-disabled/