Sheriff’s Office participates in Project Lifesaver

Sheriff Imperati is pleased to announce that the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office is now a proud partner of Project Lifesaver.

Project Lifesaver is an international organization which specializes in training, and providing equipment to, first responders to locate individuals who have gone missing and are at risk of serious injury or death due to a cognitive impairment. This includes people with Autism, Down’s Syndrome, Alzheimer’s Disease, and any other cognitive impairment that puts them at risk of wandering. The program uses a watch-like transmitter worn by the client which emits a frequency specific to them, as well as a receiver used by the first responder to locate the client through the transmitter on their wrist. To date the program has a 100% recovery rate with over 4,000 completed searches, during which all clients were recovered within an average time of 30 minutes with no serious injury or death.

At the present time the Sheriff’s Office has assigned a Project Lifesaver Coordinator and a supervisor to the program, with the hopes of training many more Deputies in the future. Sheriff Imperati is proud to be a part of Project Lifesaver, and said that “Project Lifesaver has been proven to be an extremely valuable tool in locating missing people at risk of serious injury or death, and at the Sheriff’s Office we are very excited to now have it available to us. We hope to never have to use it, but if an at-risk individual goes missing in Dutchess County its nice to know that we now have a greater chance of locating them unharmed thanks to this outstanding program.”

For those wishing to become part of the program there is no monthly cost, however there is an enrollment process and some out-of-pocket expense for the equipment that the client wears. Families or caregivers who would like more information about enrolling someone in the program should contact Deputy Russell Seymour at 845-486-3658 or rseymour@dutchessny.gov.