With the guidance of local police officers and support of community services, Westbrook and Gorham senior citizens are joining together to help themselves.

The work of the Westbrook-Gorham Triad to reduce the criminal victimization of seniors has been under way for about a year, but the group is still looking to get more people involved and, more importantly, get the word out that they’re there to help.

“It’s one thing to have a group like this, but it’s another thing for people who can benefit from it to know about it,” said Phil Curran, a Westbrook senior and member of the Triad’s Senior Leadership Advisory Team.

Officers Christine LaBranche, of the Westbrook Police Department, and Ted Hatch from Gorham police are leading the creation of the program, but after that, Hatch said, the real work is in the hands of the seniors themselves.

“Our job is to advise and educate,” Hatch said. “Their job is to make it happen.”

The officers made presentations at meetings of both the Westbrook and Gorham councils this week in an effort to inform the elected officials of the program, as well as the seniors watching the meetings on television.

Though there’s a lot more work to be done by the group, there are several efforts that have already been implemented.

Both Gorham and Westbrook police stations both have drop boxes, where people can leave their old, unused cell phones and chargers. The phones are converted to be used for emergencies only and then distributed to seniors.

Hatch said as long as they remember to keep the phones in their pockets, they can work like the Life Alert emergency buttons, but without the cost.

The group has also been installing safety locks on the doors of seniors who live in housing where their apartments can be broken into by slipping a credit card through the crack of the door.

Officers have also been giving presentations about identity theft, which is another leading concern of seniors.

“They’ve been a hit,” said David Garthe, chairman of the senior advisory board.

Some future goals of the group are to address the timing of crosswalks, so that slower seniors are able to get across, and to increase public transportation opportunities, especially for Gorham seniors.

“It’s hard for people who aren’t vulnerable to understand how many people are out there who are,” Curran said.