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Show Shepherd helps elderly from being victimized fas t A ' , ' r r ' ' - J X By JENNIFER PETERSON Staff Writer A longtime Bountiful resident recently re-cently accepted a volunteer position for the elderly. But Charles Shepherd Shep-herd is not the typical volunteer. He won't be driving buses, serving serv-ing meals, offering exercise or travel programs. He won't necessarily be a home-visitor or a recreation leader. Instead, Shepherd has been appointed ap-pointed by the American Association Associa-tion of Retired Persons (AARP) as a Volunteer Law Enforcement Consultant Con-sultant for the organization's Criminal Justice Services Program. His main duty is to make older local residents more aware of the risks of being criminally victimized and how to protect themselves against various crimes. The educational service is available to groups and organizations at no charge. One out of every eight people in the United States is 65 or over-a total of approximately 34 million older citizens. By the vear 2020. for more than 40 years. fiVK World War II he served J Marine. He later attended West Virginia Westland College, West Virginia University and the University Univer-sity of West Virginia before he became an agent of the Federal Bureau Bu-reau of Investigation and eventually a sheriffs officer. Although he received his primary degree in accounting, sitting in an office poring over ledgers and numbers does not seem to be what he had in mind. In 1950, Shepherd joined the FBI. After 14 weeks of training and a one-year probationary period, the agents made only $5,000 per yf In spite of his accountant AJ-ing, AJ-ing, Shepherd never worked in bank fraud or government contracts. Instead, In-stead, he said, he did all criminal work bank robberies and burglaries. " "Any young person who's looij ing for a career, law enforcement isn't a bad career," he said. "It's been good to me and my family." In 1979, after 29 years with the FBI, Shepherd retired and began working as chief deputy for the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office where he served for another 12 years. Throughout his years of experience experi-ence Shepherd said he has surely not seen any improvement in the rate of crime. "I'm sure there's no shortage of work for people in law enforcement," enforce-ment," he replied when asked if crime was a growing problem. In December 1990 Shepherd retired from the sheriffs office. But sometimes he misses his job. "I don't miss the work, but I do miss the people and I think most people feel that way when they retire," Shepherd explained. Shepherd volunteered his time to the AARP because there are so many people out there who could use his help. "I've found that being retired is great but you have a lot of time, especially es-pecially in the winter months," Shepherd said. When he's not speaking as a volunteer vol-unteer for the AARP, Shepherd enjoys en-joys spending time outdoors fishing, hunting and golfing as well as spending time with his three children and seven grandchildren. CHARLES SHEPHERD you come out someone could be lying on the back seat of your car. They might rob you or rape you or do any number of things," Shepherd Shep-herd warned. Shepherd has gained a large pool of knowledge and experience throughout his years working in six U.S. states. Raised in a small town in West Virginia, Shepherd says he just has to laugh at today's Neighborhood Watch program, not because it's unnecessary, but because in his youth such an official program would have been redundant. "When I was a kid, if you were out playing in the streets, like we did a lot back then, and you broke someone's window with a ball you might as well go right on over and cop yourself out," Shepherd recalled. re-called. "There were always five sets of eyes watching whatever you did. People used to sit out on the front porch and pay attention to what went on around them. We called that the neighborhood watch program. ' ' But today, Shepherd admitted, the Neighborhood Watch program is necessary. "Now we've changed. We don't sit out on the porch anymore, our yards are fenced in and hedges blocking our views ' he said. Shepherd has served Americans Shepherd explained, it is estimated that there will be more than 60 million people in that age group. As the group grows, so does the rate of crime against them. "There's a lot of scams being pulled on older people," Shepherd explained. Telemarketing fraud, banking schemes, false award schemes and other manipulative tactics are often used to take advantage of a group of citizens raised in the days when a smile and a handshake were as good as a contract, doors didn't need to be locked and people worked for their pay rather than stole it. As a recently retired law enforcement en-forcement officer of 40 years' experience, expe-rience, Shepherd is well aware of the need for self-protection. For instance, automobiles should remain locked not only when left unattended, but all the time. Even when the car is in motion, he said. Without flowery details Shepherd Shep-herd offered an example. " 4 'Let ' s say you're driving through Salt Lake and stop at a light," he explained. "Meanwhile, a buddy and I just robbed a bank. Something's gone wrong and he takes off in the getaway car. Now, here I am looking for some way out. I've got to get out of there, your door is unlocked. I've got a gun in my pocket, I jump in and now you're a hostage." While things like this won't happen to most of us, Shepherd said it's worth the simple action of pressing the lock to save ourselves the trouble such a scenario could cause. "If you leave your doors unlocked unlock-ed and, say, go into a store, when |