Buffalo Grove police buy tracking equipment

The Buffalo Grove Police Department has bought a Care Trak Emergency Response Kit, which helps police locate missing special needs residents. Care Trak uses radio transmitters to locate individuals with Alzheimer's, autism, Down syndrome, and similar disabilities, who have full-time caregivers.

Families can buy a water resistant transmitter the size of a wrist watch, which is attached to the person's wrist or ankle by a strong band and emits a pulsating radio signal.

If a person goes missing, the caregiver contacts police. Trained officers deploy two portable telemetry tracking receivers, which include hand-held directional antennas and digital receivers designed to locate the specific signal from the transmitter. The signal can be located within one mile and is sensitive enough to track inside homes, in dense brush or within large buildings.

The radio frequency equipment provided by Care Trak is more precise than GPS and will work in all weather conditions. The ultimate goal is to find special needs individuals as quickly as possible and return them home safely.

Buffalo Grove residents interested in the program should contact the police department's Crime Prevention unit at (847) 459-2560 or via e-mail at police@vbg.org.

The police department bought the Care Trak equipment with money from the village's Alcohol Awareness and Education Fund and donations from Buffalo Grove Friends of the Park Foundation, Belmont Village Senior Living, Sunrise Assisted Living, and Northwest Community Hospital.