GREENVILLE, Maine — Greenville police officers make it a habit on their patrols to activate their emergency lights when they go by a certain elderly widow’s house to let her know they are out and about.
While those lights are comforting to the widow, who waves back to the officers, local police want to ramp up their contact with senior citizens and the disabled to keep them as safe as possible.
Greenville Police Chief Jeff Pomerleau told Greenville selectmen Wednesday that some ambulance calls have been to homes where senior citizens have fallen and lain on the floor overnight, only to be discovered the next day by a neighbor or a friend.
“I’ve heard that one, two, three too many times,” Pomerleau said.
That’s why Pomerleau and his department are advocating that senior citizens and the disabled sign up for Operation Sunrise, an outreach program to help keep them safe and in their homes. It is estimated that about half of the town’s approximately 2,000 residents are elderly.
Under the program, those who sign up will be contacted by the police on a scheduled basis to assure their well-being. It is up to the residents or their loved ones to sign up for the service, which can include a face-to-face visit, a phone call or an e-mail.
“This is great,” Selectman Alan McBrierty said Wednesday upon hearing the proposal.
“It’s just one more way that you’re going to see us become part of the community,” Pomerleau said.
He said statistics show the elderly become victims of crime more often than other people. If the department has a stronger relationship with them, they will be less likely to be viewed as easy prey, he added.
Before the board meeting, full-time officer John Matula, who along with part-time officer Matt St. Laurent is assisting Pomerleau with the venture, said the department will help fill the needs of the elderly and disabled. That help might be to shovel out a door so an elderly person can leave the house, stop at the pharmacy to pick up some medication for a shut-in, or simply stop and chat a bit.
“We’re such a small community, we’d like to help everybody that’s here,” Matula said.
Applications for Operation Sunrise are available at the town office. For more information, contact the police department at 695-3835.