Money Seized From Criminals Pays For Life-Saving Program in Clarkstown

Money collected by Clarkstown through crime-related seizures of cash and property is being put to use by the town to help protect the lives of people with cognitive disabilities such as Alzheimer's disease, Autism and Downs Syndrome.

About $5,000 banked by the town through the police department's law enforcement efforts has been used to launch a local "Project Lifesaver" program, a national public safety effort that uses radio frequency technology to find individuals who have wandered away from home or their caregivers.

Project Lifesaver places personalized radio transmitters on people who are at risk of wandering off. When a person with a cognitive disability goes missing, town police can track them through the specific signal emitted by the Project Lifesaver transmitter – worn either on the wrist or ankle.

Clarkstown Councilman George Hoehmann, who proposed the town join Project Lifesaver soon after taking office last year, said the new local system will speed up the recovering of local residents who go missing and will save Clarkstown significant time and money through reduced costs for such searches.

"When an enrolled person becomes lost the recovery should be extremely quick, saving valuable police resources and ultimately taxpayer money," Hoehmann said Thursday as he and Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack and Police Chief Peter Noonan announced the Project Lifesaver effort. "However, what I am really most proud of and fully expect—is that some time in the future—a person will go missing—but a life will be saved and tragedy averted. Through the efforts of the Clarkstown police, our community partners and Project Lifesaver we will have our own rescues and vulnerable will return home safe and sound."  

Clarkstown is the first community in Rockland to join Project Lifesaver, which is organized through a non-profit organization created in 1999 in Virginia. Since its creation, 2,126 people enrolled in the program have been rescued, according to Project Lifesaver. The system is in place in Westchester County and is being implemented throughout New Jersey.

This is the second recent initiative in Rockland to help "at risk" adults, their families and caregivers. Rockland County, through the Sheriff's Department, has launched a "Silver Alert" system countywide, providing a system similar to the "Amber Alert" system for missing children but geared toward adults with cognitive disabilities such as Alzheimer's disease.

In the Silver Alert system, which Clarkstown is also participating in, families and caregivers register at-risk adults with local police, providing them with detailed information about that person and a photo which can be distributed to area police officers by computer if that person goes missing. In Project Lifesaver, families and caregivers can register an at-risk person at the Clarkstown Town Clerk's Office in New City and the specialized radio transmitter is provided for the at-risk individual.

"This is a vital tool for our police department in finding our missing residents," said Gromack.  "I am proud that the Town of Clarkstown is the first Town in Rockland County to institute Project Lifesaver."

Clarkstown used about $5,000 from crime seizure funds to purchase the radio frequency detection gear used for Project Lifesaver and to train a team in the police department to use the equipment. Noonan said equipment for Project Lifesaver is mounted on a police car and includes hand-held tracking devices as well.

"In the past five years our department has responded to over 1,300 missing persons reports," Noonan said. "Not all of them have been people with cognitive disorders, but it's a good percentage of them."

Noonan explained that when a child or an at-risk adult is missing, his department mobilizes all available resources to find that person.

"We have found that it is critical to find a person within that first hour of when we get the report," said Noonan.

Noonan said that individuals who are part of the Project Lifesaver program are often found within minutes.

"The technology is very reliable and it is fairly simple to use once you have been trained," said Noonan.

A team of Clarkstown police officers and police dispatchers was trained on Project Lifesaver equipment by the Morris County, N.J., Sheriff's Department, which also participates in the program. The training included testing the equipment in places such as the Palisades Center mall in West Nyack and at Rockland Lake State Park.

Clarkstown Sgt. Glenn Cummings said the training showed how the specific radio signal emitted by a Project Lifesaver bracelet could be easily pinpointed, even in the most remote corners inside Palisades Center. At Rockland Lake, Police Officer Nick Veltri said he did his best to hide when he played the role of a missing person. However, Veltri said he was found with the Project Lifesaver equipment in just minutes.

"Knowing what to watch for when tracking takes training and experience," said Clarkstown police dispatcher Seth Needleman.

Dispatcher Lorraine Monahan, who led research efforts for Project Lifesaver within the police department, said the training for the system allows its operators to cope with issues such as reflections that could come off a large body of water such as Rockland Lake.

Noonan said the tracking gear, with it's prominent antenna array, does not use GPS technology. He said the radio frequency detectors provide better information on a person's specific location than current GPS technology can.

In dealing with people with cognitive disorders, Noonan said police cannot rely on finding people through GPS signals tied to cellular telephones. He explained that cellular signals vary geographically, and that someone with a cognitive disorder may simply turn off a cell phone, throw it away – or just leave it at home.

Nanuet resident Susan Whalen said she has experienced that problem first-hand with her son, who is nearly 15-year-old and has autism.

"We've had a couple of really good scares," Whalen said, explaining that having a cell phone does not guarantee a family member will be safe. "I think this system is really going to catch on here."

Whalen, who also researched Project Lifesaver, had been lobbying town officials in support of bringing the system to Clarkstown. For Whalen, a key to the system is that any police department with Project Lifesaver equipment can track a missing individual. This allows for an at-risk person to be located even if they are on vacation or on a trip outside of Rockland County.

Hoehmann said that in addition to serving Clarkstown residents, the Project Lifesaver system is important for Clarkstown because the town is home to several major agencies that assist thousands of at-risk individuals, including Jawonio, Camp Venture, ARC and the Alzheimer's Association. Officials from these groups turned out in support of Project Lifesaver as it was announced Thursday.

Hoehmann said Jawonio, Venture and the Alzheimer's Association are already working with the town on the system and will help in its implementation.

Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci said his office at Town Hall in New City is handling the administrative functions for Project Lifesaver. The police department will focus on responding to Project Lifesaver calls when a person registered with the program goes missing.

The program costs $300 to enroll an individual, which includes the registration, the radio bracelet and a device that allows families or caregivers to check the bracelet's battery. After the first year, the cost to be in the program is $10 per month. Additionally, batteries for the bracelet must be changed once a month.

Hoehmann said the town is working on partnerships to cut the cost of joining the system. He noted that Jawonio staffers have already been trained on maintaining the Project Lifesaver bracelets so they can change the batteries. For participants in the program who  are not connected to agencies such as Jawonio, the Town Clerk's office will handle changing batteries.

Madelon I. Berger of New City-based Bill of Health Services, who is a member of the New City Rotary Club, said the club has already committed to make donations to the Project Lifesaver program to assist families that cannot afford the fees connected to the program.

Hoehmann said that by speeding up the recovery of missing at-risk individuals, Clarkstown will be able to reduce the emotional and physically trauma related to missing persons incidents.

"What happens to the person who inadvertently goes missing? Often that person suffers loss of sleep, ends up in harms way and can become injured," Hoehman said. "They often miss taking one or more medications that is treating an underlying medical or psychological condition and this may cause other complications—not to mention the worry and stress that the family endures. When a person with a cognitive impairment wanders they may not have the protective instincts to avoid harm. Unfortunately, the outcome in some of the worst cases results in tragedy—a death or a life changing serious injury."

When a person in Project Lifesaver is reported missing, Noonan said the police department then looks up the specific radio frequency for the tracking bracelet that individual has been assigned. Project Lifesaver team members would then use their equipment to begin a search in the last area known for the missing person.

The signal from the Project Lifesaver can be detected for a mile-and-a-half. If the equipment is placed in a helicopter, Noonan said the signals can be detected for up to seven miles.