Some of you may already know about the Elder Abuse Guide for Law Enforcement, or EAGLE. For those of you who are not familiar, EAGLE is an online tool designed to support officers in quickly identifying, intervening, and resolving elder abuse situations. Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, EAGLE was developed with input and user testing by law enforcement, for law enforcement. Recent enhancements have made EAGLE more navigable and more comprehensive, adding the recently published National Clearinghouse for Abuse in Later Life (NCALL) Elder Abuse Investigations: Training for Law Enforcement and Other Investigators to EAGLE’s other tools, which include the following:

• Tools to assist in documenting a case for prosecution
• ZIP code–based community resources locator
• State-by-state directory of penal codes relating to elder abuse
• Curated list of webinars designed for law enforcement

About the Elder Abuse Investigations: Training for Law Enforcement and Other Investigators Online Modules

These short e-learning modules offer law enforcement officers, investigators, and other first responders an opportunity to access training on elder abuse at any time, from anywhere. As first responders, law enforcement officers can play a key role in providing an effective response to elder abuse at the local level; you may be working with local partners under an Abuse in Later Life Grant from the Office on Violence Against Women, or you may simply be seeking information about some aspect of handling elder abuse cases. In either case, the information in these modules will enhance your investigative skills, help you work effectively with older victims, and provide you with tools that can help hold offenders accountable and keep victims safe, even after a case is closed.

The NCALL Elder Abuse Investigations training modules are high-quality, interactive, 15- to 20-minute lessons on topics such as evidence collection, substitute decision makers, elder abuse in facilities, working with Adult Protective Services, documentation, capacity, dementia, and much more. They can be completed in any order, at any pace, as the system will track your progress if you are called away mid-lesson. Modules are in two groups, basic and advanced, and users receive a certificate of completion upon finishing each group.

To Request Training

The EAGLE developers, NCEA, now offer live or virtual EAGLE-based training for law enforcement. Apply online by completing the EAGLE Training Application. Depending on your state, you may be able to receive POST certification.

There is also a one-hour online EAGLE Training on elder abuse for law enforcement available through the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). Again, POST certification may be possible depending on your state; print the Certificate of Completion and request certification through your POST office.

For more information on the EAGLE, see the following:

• Demo of the EAGLE
• The EAGLE Flyer
• EAGLE Promo
• EAGLE PowerPoint

Support and tools are out there to provide law enforcement with the resources to meet the myriad demands of their profession.

This project was funded by the U.S Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women. For more information about the NCALL Elder Abuse Investigations training, please contact Ann Laatsch at alaatsch@ncall.us.

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