Sheriff's officials announced Monday an online expansion of a program designed to help authorities find Alzheimer's disease patients and others with cognitive disabilities as quickly as possible should they go missing.
The "Take Me Home" service, which makes use of a database accessible by all local law enforcement agencies, is now available to the public at the San Diego County Sheriff's Department's website. Previously, applicants had to go to a sheriff's station to file their paperwork.
The program allows families and caretakers to upload key information — including photographs, physical descriptions, areas frequented and emergency contacts — that can help public-safety personnel more rapidly track down dependent and at-risk people if they wander off from their homes or get lost during outings.
Such data can help bring about favorable outcomes in missing-person cases by narrowing down searches in their critical early stages, officials said.
