Senior Sleuths may volunteer for different positions within the organization.
Project Office Manager
Information on the Project Office Manager position is provided on this website's Organization webpage.
Project Office Senior Sleuth
A Project Office Senior Sleuth is someone who has volunteered to physically work in their local Seniors vs. Crime Project office and handle complaints from the public. An office Senior Sleuth has direct or phone contact with complainants and those complained against. Working on complaints includes contact with complainant and/or party complained against in face-to-face meetings or by telephone or email, documenting meetings/calls, maintaining case files, entering case data into computer system, researching complaint details on intranet and internet, copying, faxing, etc. The Office Manager may assign some of these tasks to a Project Office Assistant for improved office efficiency.
All contacts are made at or from the Seniors vs Crime office. No Senior Sleuth is required to conduct any investigation outside the office confines, however with Director approval the Office Manager may allow volunteers to meet with the complainant or the accused party at another government facility. Also with Director approval, the Office Manager may give selected Senior Sleuths permission to work from a secure home location. Note that unless the situation falls into one of those circumstances, Senior Sleuths do not meet with the complainant or the complained against party outside of the office confines.
Project Office Assistant
Busy offices have a number of critical positions that support the office operations. A Project Office Assistant is a Sleuth that prefers special tasks such as internet research, data entry, case file maintenance, assisting with end of month reporting, or copying/faxing/scanning of documents. The Project Office Assistant typically is a Sleuth that prefers not to deal with processing complaints.
Speakers Bureau
Senior Sleuths who are comfortable with public speaking may decide that they would like to participate in speaking engagement and provide presentations. These Sleuths are trained and mentored by another Speakers Bureau Senior Sleuth, the Office Manager, or the Regional Director. Training includes familiarization with the various presentations that are offered by the Project. Examples: generic about the Seniors vs. Crime Project- Who we are, what we do; Scams and Cons; Identity Theft; FINRA; etc. Most speaking engagements are limited to approximately 20-30 minutes followed by a question and answer period. In addition to educating fellow seniors, these presentations serve to spread-the-word about the Senior vs Crime Project.
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Speakers Bureau
The FINRA education session is a special "on-request" presentation that is offered statewide. In partnership with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Seniors vs. Crime Project presents this program to senior groups most concerned about protecting their retirement investments. The presentation is focused on how to avoid investment fraud. Presenters do not need to have prior interest or experience in financial markets. Any Senior Sleuth can be trained in performing this presentation.
"Part Time" Senior Sleuth
A Senior Sleuth who does not wish to be active on a weekly basis, but is willing to assist part time, is a Part Time Senior Sleuth. Examples would be working in the Project offices occasionally when the office is short-staffed due to vacations or sickness, supporting booths at special events, reporting potential scams, providing translation for complainants who are physically impaired or do not proficiently speak English, reporting high pressure sales tactics, monitoring or reporting price gouging, or reporting other unfair business practices. These types of requests are infrequent but do occur.
Volunteers from The Villages Project Offices participate in community outreach
Flagler Beach Project Office volunteers discuss office operations. Photo: Dayton Beach News-Journal , all right reserved