New Petaluma police program tracks missing elderly

When a loved one with dementia goes missing, every minute counts when it comes to locating and bringing them home safely. A new program through the Petaluma Police Department gives responders the tools to quickly identify a missing person and return them to caregivers.

The Alzheimer’s Association reports that six in 10 people with memory problems will wander away from home, become disoriented and confused, and may not be able to remember their name and address.

“When someone with dementia walks out the door, it’s considered an emergency,” said Susan Gilbert, who cares for a relative with dementia. “This is a vulnerable population. They may be disabled and need medications or have hearing or visual disabilities.”

Having an adult with dementia wander and become lost is a major fear for their loved ones and caregivers, and it’s a concern that inspired Gilbert to see what she could to about it.

“I started to do some research,” said Gilbert. “At the time, this relative was living at home and I thought I would take a look at different police departments and the Alzheimer’s Association and see what sort of resources there are in the community.”

Gilbert’s research led her to a program the Fremont Police Department is using called Safe Return, which is run in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Association program of the same name. It’s designed to help locate and reunite wandering dementia patients with their families through a database that helps to quickly distribute information about the missing patient to law enforcement and the public.

“I thought it would be an ideal model for our police department, so I contacted them,” said Gilbert. “The officer, Bill Baseman, was nice enough to consider the program as a possibility for the Petaluma Police Department. Once I heard he got it up and running, I was thrilled.”

“We researched it and found it was easy to put together,” said Petaluma Police Officer Bill Baseman. “It was great that Susan brought this program up to us. We went live with it on Aug. 15.”

How Safe Return works is simple. Caregivers download a form from the Petaluma Police Department website and fill it out with the dementia patient’s physical description and a photo. The form is then turned in to the police department where it’s entered into a database. If that individual ever wanders off, the police are quickly able to pull up that person’s information and quickly share it with police officers and the public in hopes it will lead to the person’s safe return.

“The subject in question would also have some sort of ID on them,” said Basemen. “If a citizen comes upon them, they could call in and we’d have their information in our records system and be able to quickly find out who their caregiver is and let them know we found their wandering loved one.”

Safe Return also makes the process much faster if a missing persons report needs to be filed. Having the information already available in the police department’s database saves time.

“A lot of times, people who have loved ones in their family wander away without them knowing right away,” said Gilbert. “Then they have to follow up with 911, bring in a photo to the police and all the identification information. I just think that’s a reactive way to deal with it. I found this proactive program can really give a family an extra added layer of comfort.”

“These things can happen any time,” said Basemen. “It’s a scary thing. We get a flurry of them at times where someone with dementia wanders off. We’re just trying to be prepared so when it does happen, we have the information and can quickly reunite a loved one with their caregiver.”

For now, the Safe Return paperwork must be printed out and taken to the police department, but Basemen said they hope to eventually make it a paperless process where caregivers can fill out the form online and upload a photo.

The Alzheimer’s Association also runs a second aspect of the Safe Return program, which includes a MedicAlert bracelet or necklace with the individual’s information, along with entry of the person’s data in a nationwide database.

“Petaluma is such a great, friendly community,” said Gilbert. “By and large, people will help if someone does wander away; and when they do, this proactive program can be a lifesaver.”