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Baw Baw District Police Seniors' Register

Seniors' Programs

The service maintains a confidential computer database of senior citizens who choose to register. Trained volunteers offer periodic telephone calls and/or a Home Security Assessment, plus an identity card. This is a free service to Baw Baw Shire Residents. BAW BAW DISTRICT POLICE SENIORS’ REGISTRY • The Baw Baw Police Seniors' Registry, a support service - commenced in Warragul in 2004 by Inspector Ron Cooke - is a crime prevention and community care initiative by the Baw Baw District Police to achieve a safer and more confident community. • This is a successful community benefit and endeavours to help senior citizens, older people and people with a disability, who live alone or are socially isolated or concerned about their wellbeing living in their own home, to provide reassurance and comfort, feel safer and to give them and their loved ones peace of mind. • The service maintains a confidential computer database of those who choose to register, containing details of the client’s address, age, spouse/partner, phone and medical practitioner - together with any health problems that may require urgent action - with the next of kin’s or other nominated persons address and phone contact numbers. Currently on the database there are over 1370 clients, all from the Shire of Baw Baw. • The Register issues a laminated numbered ID card to new clients - that we strongly recommend to be carried at all times - which, in the event of an emergency, can identify the client by contacting the Warragul Police Station on (03) 5622 7111, where the up-to-date database is maintained for access by on-duty police members, providing the necessary details in order that assistance can be safely enacted. • Clients if they wish may receive a regular phone call from one of the Register’s volunteers to check on their wellbeing. If these ‘Active’ clients cannot be contacted or is/are unable to respond, this enables local police officers check on the registrant's well-being after being informed by the volunteer. • Our trained volunteers, numbering approximately thirty, make regular phone contact for those who request calls, to about 250 clients, five days a week: mornings and afternoon. Some calls are weekly, some fortnightly and always welcomed by the recipients, to some of whom this call may be the only or very few outside contacts they receive. Many take the opportunity simply to have a friendly chat, but above all they are comforted by the assurance that someone will advise their next of kin, or nominated contact if they need assistance, if the calls to them remain unanswered. • Also available is a ‘Home Security Assessment’ by police-trained volunteers. This service is for clients who wish to have their home evaluated for safety and security purposes. A comprehensive report is given to the client on any extra security that might be needed, with suggestions for possible improvements to their home: lockable windows; secure door locks; foliage covering windows etc., to discourage intruders. It is then up to the client whether they act on this advice. • The Register also offers a ‘Safe Return’ service for those who suffer from dementia and may be disoriented, alone and away from home. A separate numbered photo ID card is issued to clients in this programme and available on the Registry database at the Warragul Police Station for easy identification and Safe Return. • Prior to budgetary restraints a regular newsletter was also part of the service. • All services of the Baw Baw District Police Seniors’ Register are completely free of charge and all client numbered details are kept on a totally confidential database in the Registry office at the Police Station in Palmerston Street, where the office is open to clients and visitors, weekly on Wednesdays from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. The phone number is (03) 5622 7177; if unattended, an answering service is available. The register under the auspices of the Baw Baw District Police Command is currently administered by the President, Mary Draper, who has been involved since the service was established in Warragul in 2004.