- December 20, 2024
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Seniors vs. Crime volunteer Kathy Romanac hands a flier to Palm Coast resident Phyllis Wahl. Photo by Sierra Williams
The FCSO's first Summit to Protect and Serve Seniors filled the Operation Center's community room, spilling over into the hallway. Photo by Sierra Williams
FCSO Sheriff Rick Staly at the FCSO's first educational Summit to Protect and Serve Seniors. Photo by Sierra Williams
Flagler County Fire Rescue Community Paramedic Rob Errett engages residents during the FCFR presentation. Photo by Sierra Williams
The FCSO's first Summit to Protect and Serve Seniors filled the Operation Center's community room, spilling over into the hallway. Photo by Sierra Williams
Palm Coast resident Lee Wessell asks a question after a technology presentation. Photo by Sierra Williams
Citizen Academy volunteer April Healey and other volunteers line a table with informational pamphlets for residents. Photo by Sierra Williams
The FCSO's first Summit to Protect and Serve Seniors filled the Operation Center's community room, spilling over into the hallway. Photo by Sierra Williams
Seniors vs. Crime volunteer Tommy Mayne gives a presentation on contracts, contractors and licensing. Photo by Sierra Williams
FCFR Community Paramedic Tracy Farmer educated residents about signs of heat related illnesses. Photo by Sierra Williams
FCSO Commander Michael Lutz points at a resident during a question and answer session. Photo by Sierra Williams
FCSO Sheriff Rick Staly thanked residents for attending the first annual Summit to Protect and Serve Seniors. Photo by Sierra Williams
Khalilah Escalera, a Department of Justice outreach coordinator, shared information on how residents can protect themselves from phone scams. Photo by Sierra Williams
The FCSO's first Summit to Protect and Serve Seniors filled the Operation Center's community room, spilling over into the hallway. Photo by Sierra Williams
FCFR Community Paramedics Rob Errett and Tracy Farmer. Photo by Sierra Williams
WOM Technology Management Group CEO Derreck Ogden gave examples of different scams residents may come across. Photo by Sierra Williams
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office hosted its first Summit to Protect and Serve Seniors at the FCSO Operations Center’s training room on Aug. 22.
Almost 200 Flagler County residents attended the summit, which lasted from 3-5 p.m., packing the room and spilling into the hallway. FCSO Commander Michael Lutz organized several expert presentations for residents on computer safety, scams, fraud and county health resources.
“This was just strictly for seniors,” Lutz said. “And as you can see, it was a great turnout. I’m very happy with the turnout.”
The FCSO was inspired to create the summit after Sheriff Rick Staly heard about a similar one hosted in a different county. That summit had focused on training other agencies.
But Lutz said the FCSO decided that educating seniors directly would work well in Flagler County.
“We sat around and talked about it [and] said it would be good here, since we have a large senior community, to do something just for seniors,” Lutz said. “So we put it all together with different speakers.”
Lutz said hearing from the experts and not just law enforcement can sometimes help hammer safety information home.
The FCSO invited WOM Technology Management Group, a cybersecurity organization, to talk about computer safety and the most common types of phone and online scams residents might come across.
Flagler County Fire Rescue Community Paramedics Rob Errett and Tracy Farmer reviewed the symptoms of heat-related illnesses with residents and spoke about how community paramedics serve as health care resources for residents.
U.S. District Attorney’s Office Outreach Specialist Khalilah Escalera gave residents information on how to identify a scam and provided contact information for reporting fraud.
The State Attorney’s Office’s Seniors vs. Crime team also participated. The volunteer-led program helps residents combat fraud, such as cases where contractors seek pay upfront, then leave a job before completing the work.
Flagler County Seniors vs. Crime Manager Ken Seymour said the program’s volunteers recovered $1.6 million for Flagler County residents.
Seniors vs. Crime volunteers help residents before they might need to hire a lawyer, Seymour said.
“Our job is to get remuneration for the victim,” Seymour said.
Lutz said he often gives similar, more detailed presentations on scams and fraud to smaller groups and organizations throughout the year.
Education, he said, is the key to stopping scams and fraud.
“A lot of this stuff cannot be arrested away,” Lutz said. “Education is the way we’re going to solve this.”
