CLINTON, Connecticut — The Clinton Police Department has launched two new initiatives to help neighbors with cognitive disabilities.
Working with Clinton Public Schools, the department gives out ‘Empower Cards’ to students in special education. The card has their picture, address, and disabilities as well as emergency contact information.
Developed by police in Guilford, Clinton Police Chief Vincent DeMaio says it can help notify officers of any potential triggers the student may have.
“We can also put some information into our computer-aided dispatch system which will allow us to know their triggers like they may be afraid you can’t touch them,” he said.
It launched two weeks ago. Clinton mom Lisa DeRusha got a card for her 13-year-old son, JJ Juarez. The seventh-grader is wheelchair-bound with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He is also legally blind and nonverbal.
“I just had a sigh of relief knowing it’s one less thing I have to worry about,” she said. “I thought it was a great idea. You always wonder what a child would do who’s nonverbal.”
She keeps the card in his backpack. It’s one less thing she has to worry about in case she is not present. Police, fire, or EMS can look at his card and see who to contact as well as doctors they can try. She said it also helps police because they may not know why a person is acting as they are.
Corporal John Harkins started the initiative within the police department. Growing up with a sister with down syndrome, he said it was always a concern in case she encountered someone.
He goes into the Clinton schools weekly to make the kids comfortable with police and teach them what to do if they encounter law enforcement officials, especially since they may not know officers other than him.
“They’ve been practicing giving the empower card and showing the empower card,” he said. “The teachers really embraced it. They brought it in. They thought it was a great idea.”
He said he practices and tests the students on giving out the card to make sure they are prepared for a potentially high-stress situation. They’ve had about a dozen families sign up since its launch.
The department also brought Project Lifesaver to the department thanks to a $6,000 grant from the Alzheimer Foundation.
The equipment uses a personal transmitter on the person to pinpoint their location. People are given the tracker that can be worn and picked up within a mile radius.
“We tune it to their frequency and this is what we’ll be able to locate a person with,” the corporal said.
He said searches can take hours, but with this technology, it can reduce that to even thirty minutes.
Chief DeMaio said this will also help keep resources available if a person is missing. They want to have officers on all shifts who know how to use the equipment.
“When someone goes missing, I have four or five officers out looking for that individual for three to four hours,” he said. “That’s spending a lot of resources that we can’t put in other places.”
Caregivers or parents will sign up the person. They’ve had seniors with dementia and Alzheimers take part.
The chief said the battery life will last longer than cell phones. There are also areas along the shoreline that can lose signal due to bad reception. Plus, not all missing persons may be carrying one with them.
“If you’re carrying a phone and you get scared and you drop it or it rings and that causes a reaction and you get rid of that, again will find the phone but we won’t find the person,” he said.
Project Lifesaver, used nationally, is also utilized in these Connecticut departments: Newington, Simsbury, Guilford, New Haven, East Haven, Bridgeport, Easton, Trumbull, Westport, New Canaan, Norwalk, Stamford, and Darien.
The chief said the department is happy to have these additional resources to help the community.
Tony Black is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tblack@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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