New Technology Helps Police Locate Missing People

In an effort to serve residents with special needs, the Buffalo Grove Police Department is offering a program that will help officers locate those who go missing from their homes.

By outfitting residents with conditions such as dementia, autism and Down syndrome with transmitters, which are worn on the wrist or ankle, police are able to use a portable antenna and receiver to detect a radio signal. That signal leads them straight to the person wearing the transmitter.

Police provided an overview of the Care Trak technology at the Buffalo Grove Village Board meeting on Aug. 30, when they brought an antenna and transmitter to help illustrate the system.

"We believe that this is a valuable resource," Chief Steve Balinski said. "We are confident that one day this device will assist us in locating an individual with special needs.

Sgt. Mike Szos described the equipment, which arrived at the station in early August, as "more precise than GPS." It works in all weather conditions, and can locate signals from the transmitters from up to a mile away, he said.

About a dozen Buffalo Grove police officers were trained by Care Trak staff this summer, Crime Prevention Officer Paul Jamil said. "We had people hide the transmitters all over the village, and we'd go find them," he said.

Officers stuck the Care Trak antenna out the squad car window, and followed the signal. "Every time we did it, we were successful," he said.

During one test, officers started out at the police station and followed the signal to the 20-acre Green Lake Park. "The transmitter was under six inches of mulch near a swing set," Jamil said, noting that it took a total of 20 minutes for police to track the tiny device to the location and unearth it. "On the wrist of a person, think about how much faster we could find that. I could probably cut that time in half," he said.

The technology will help officers in search of missing people locate them in a fraction of the time, Jamil said. He said it's fairly common for residents with special needs, such as Alzheimer's, to be reported missing by spouses or other caregivers.

"Sometimes we'll see a 30-day period where we get two or three, then a period where there are none, and then the next month we get four or five," he said. When such reports are made within 10 to 20 minutes of the person's disappearance, usually they are still nearby, Jamil said, but officers must canvass the area to find them. If these people were outfitted with Care Trak devices, officers could carry the antenna as they traveled on foot or by car to follow the tranmission signal, which grows stronger as officers draw nearer.

"This just gives us a great tool in making sure we're successful that much sooner," Jamil said.

"At some point," he predicted, "it will save a life."

To date, no residents have purchased transmitters, though Jamil said he fields questions about the technology from multiple callers each day. He further raised awareness of the program by conducting demonstrations at the Buffalo Grove Days festival.

To be eligible for the program, residents must have a 24-hour caregiver, which could be a family member. Participants pay a one-time $250 fee for the transmitter, and are responsible for replacing its batteries every two months. Caregivers will also be required to document twice-daily battery tests to ensure the device is properly working, Jamil said.

To report a missing person, the caregiver would call police and provide a three-digit code, which officers use to detect that particular transmitter. In addition to its use on land, the transmitter's signal can be detected within a five-mile range from the air, Jamil said.

The $5,000 technology was paid in part through the village's Alcohol Awareness and Education Fund (which consists of income from fines and liquor license violations), as well as through donations from Buffalo Grove Friends of the Park Foundation, Belmont Village Assisted Senior Living, Sunrise Assisted Living and Northwest Community Hospital.

Buffalo Grove is among a number of area police departments to adopt the Care Trak program. The technology is also used in Naperville and Schaumuburg, as well as by McHenry County's mental health department.

For more information about the program, call the Buffalo Grove Police Department's crime prevention unit at 847-459-2560, e-mail police@vbg.org or visit the police station to inquire in person.