New Bill Creates Lost Senior Detector

Mayor Bloomberg signed legislation Wednesday aiming to assist caregivers in rapidly locating the elderly who suffer from mental deterioration.
New Bill Creates Lost Senior Detector
10/11/2010
Updated:
10/12/2010
NEW YORK—Mayor Bloomberg signed legislation Wednesday aiming to assist caregivers in rapidly locating the elderly who suffer from mental deterioration and for whom becoming lost or wandering away from their homes could prove dangerous or fatal.

Bill 270-A, approved by the City Council, creates the Silver Alert system, designed to help identify and locate seniors with certain cognitive impairments who go missing and may be in danger.
According to the mayor’s office, 250,000 New Yorkers suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

The enactment of the bill initiates the development of a protocol by the Police Department to be implemented by the sharing of information about vulnerable seniors reported missing possibly in imminent danger in order to aid in their return.

The person’s name, age, brief description, and the area where they were last seen or the description of the car they may have been driving will be provided to hospitals, senior centers, and other residential institutions as often as needed while public notifications will be sent through various media and notification outlets, including television, radio, and NotifyNYC.