Within the next two weeks, the Arlington County Police Department is expected to announce that it is joining the Project Lifesaver program, which helps more than 1,000 public safety agencies locate adults and children who wander due to various disorders.
The program provides police departments with LoJack-like tracking equipment and training courses that allow them to find wander-prone people who have been outfitted with specialized wrist or ankle transmitters.
The program is especially geared toward those with Alzheimer’s, autism, Down syndrome, dementia, and similar cognitive conditions.
Project Lifesaver International, the organization behind the program, says its technology helps ensure that missing people are found quickly and safely, without the need to organize large, expensive searches. The organization says it’s responsible for 2,142 rescues in the past 10 years, with a 100 percent success rate.
It’s not clear how quickly Arlington County would be able to implement the system after the announcement.