Office of the City Attorney

ELDER ABUSE UNIT

Protecting those most often targeted for abuse, exploitation, and fraud is of paramount importance to the City Attorney’s Office. Unfortunately, our seniors are seen by criminals as targets particularly ripe for victimization. In fact, the California Attorney General reported in 2008 that more than 225,000 Californians become victims of elder and dependent abuse each year.

In recognition of the unique threat posed by criminals to our seniors, the City Attorney’s Office aggressively works to protect the senior citizens of Los Angeles, and to aggressively target and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who would do them either fiscal or physical harm.

The City Attorney’s Elder Abuse, Identity Theft and Fraud, and Housing Units work every day to investigate reports of abuse and to prosecute those engaging in criminal conduct when the facts warrant it.

The City Attorney’s Office also works in partnership with the Los Angeles Elders At Risk Task Force and Los Angeles County Elder Abuse Forensic Center – which engages public and community-based organizations in an effort to increase prosecutions for crimes against the elderly – as part of a comprehensive effort to combat such abuse.

In 2008, an Anti-Elder Abuse measure sponsored by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office was signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger. AB 1424, authored by Assembly Member Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles), passed through the California State Legislature without opposition. The bill extended the law which protects domestic violence victims by providing that a violation of a restraining order or stay-away order constitutes a misdemeanor criminal offense to include protections for vulnerable elder and dependent adults.