Chelmsford Police locate missing older woman through tracking technology
CHELMSFORD — For families with older relatives or loved ones with cognitive disabilities, their worst fears become reality when that person wanders off and gets lost.
But with new tracking technology, the search to find them doesn’t take too long.
After an 80-year-old woman with dementia went missing near Technology Drive the morning of Jan. 12 and wasn’t seen for nearly an hour, Chelmsford Police stepped in to help her family locate her, around 9:30 a.m.
That’s when police discovered the woman’s family participates in the SafetyNet program, in which an at-risk individual wears a tracking bracelet on their wrist or ankle. Police officials then use their own technology to find the bracelet, which emits a radio frequency signal, and therefore the specific location of its user.
While Chelmsford police searched the nearby area and requested help from the Massachusetts State Police Airwing and the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council Regional Response Team, Officers Shawn Brady and Dave Leo manned the SafetyNet tracking devices.
The pair followed the signal to a condo complex on Technology Drive, where Brady found the missing woman seated in the back of a car. Neither the Airwing nor Regional Response Team responded to the scene before she was located.
It’s unclear when exactly she was found, but police estimate it takes roughly half an hour to find missing people through SafetyNet.
After an evaluation on scene, the woman joined her family.
The SafetyNet system, which the Chelmsford Police adopted last summer, is free for town residents. Founded in 2010, it’s designed to assist those with cognitive impairments, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and autism.
Currently, nine officers with the force are trained to use SafetyNet, which is said “to be more effective than GPS,” particularly when tracking those through buildings, shallow water, basements and “densely wooded areas,” according to a press release. The department purchased several bracelets in August.
First responders’ initial point of action is to travel to the missing person’s last known location, driving a vehicle with an antenna that can track the bracelet and its wearer “as close as a quarter of a mile,” according to the press release. On foot, officers equip a handheld device to find the person’s exact location.
The Tyngsboro Police Department also instated its Home Safe program, which included the SafetyNet system, in July 2021. The Boston Police Department also partnered with SafetyNet Tracking Systems in March 2021.
Those interested in joining the Chelmsford program cam email Officer Matthew Fernald at mfernald@chelmsfordma.gov or call 978-256-2521 ext. 301. Officer Shawn Brady will also field requests at sbrady@chelmsfordma.gov and 978-256-2521 ext. 275.
Gloss