Auburn PD prepares to launch Project Lifesaver

In an effort to help those who live with cognitive illnesses, the Auburn Police Department is gearing up to launch Project Lifesaver this month. Project Lifesaver, which is funded through Placer County's Healthy Brain Initiative grant, is a program designed to help officers more quickly locate a person who has wandered away from home. "The idea is to provide better service to those who suffer from cognitive illnesses such as autism, dementia, Alzheimer's and down syndrome," said Lt. Bryan Morrison. "So they can function more as regular people." Through the program, residents with loved ones with cognitive illnesses can fill out an application and with a doctor's recommendation can get a free bracelet which emits a radio frequency. "The patients are given a transmitter that has a specific frequency that is assigned to them," Morrison said. "When someone goes missing, they can provide us with their frequency number and we type it into the receivers, which then send off a radio signal to help us locate those that have walked away." Thursday, Auburn police officers could be seen walking throughout downtown Auburn using the receivers to try and locate bracelets in Project Lifesaver training exercises. The officers spent the day training on foot and in their vehicles using the equipment, which beeps louder as the officer approaches the bracelet. So why use radio frequency and not GPS? "What they found is the radio frequency technology works more efficiently and effectively when you deal with the environmental things we face like being in a tunnel or in the mountains," Morrison said. Morrison said the Auburn Police Department usually takes part in several search missions for residents in need a year. "We've spent significant time looking for people and you deploy a significant amount of resources as well," Morrison said. "This will cut the amount of resources needed and essentially return people home faster." The Auburn Police Department doesn't necessarily hear from families of those with cognitive illnesses, Morrison said. "The hope is that by having this program, they will be more open and we will have something in common where we can connect and be able to talk further about it and be more aware," he said. The officers who were trained Thursday will be working to train every officer in the department on the Project Lifesaver equipment. Morrison said he hopes to roll out the program to the public in early November.