Crisfield PD rolls out initiative aimed at supporting elderly residents

CRISFIELD, Md. – In Crisfield, community is everything, especially within the police department.

The department’s 7-man force rolled out the ‘R U OK? Program’, an initiative that chief of police, Eric Lee said is aimed at keeping tabs on the city’s vulnerable population, through welfare checks.

“We have close proximity to the citizens that live in our community, and we have a lot of senior citizens that live here and people that are homebound. This just adds an extra level of comfort and security to their family,” said Lee.

Since rolling out the program Monday night, several community members have already shown interest in registering their loved one. Lee said this helps long distance relatives know that their family member is safe.

“Once the relative registers their loved one and we have all their criteria needed to contact them, we will check on them once or twice a week, and if we don’t hear from them, then we will contact the emergency contact, or we’ll respond to them at that address to check on them,” said Lee.

Looking forward to the positive impact this will have on his constituents, Lee encouraged anyone who want’s peace of mind to reach out to the department and submit a form.

“We’re here to help and we want this to be a true community policing agency. I believe in that it’s more than just photo ops; community policing has a long history in law enforcement,” said Lee.