By Tracy Manzer, Press-Telegram
Original publication date: Feb. 25, 2011

Long Beach, Calif. — An elderly man who wandered away from his downtown home earlier this week was found safe with the help of an emergency locator bracelet, police said Friday.

Long Beach Police Department dispatchers received a call Tuesday at about 4:48 a.m. after the man’s family realized he had wandered away from his home near First Street and Lime Avenue, said Lisa Massacani, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.

Police dispatchers learned the man was given a free emergency locator bracelet as part of the police department’s Safe Reunion/Long Beach program.

Once the bracelet was activated the man was quickly found about a mile from home and reunited with his family, Massacani said.

“(He) was safe, but in discomfort due to not being dressed appropriately for the cold weather, which was reported to be in the 40 s at that time,” she said.

The Safe Reunion/Long Beach program partners the Long Beach Police Department with EmFinders to provide the high-tech bracelets for families with relatives suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s and other disabilities.

The LBPD has a limited quantity of free bracelets, which normally cost $225, for those who qualify.

Recipients must still pay for the 24-hour monitoring service, which costs about $25 a month.

For more information go to the Long Beach Police Department’s website, www.emfinders.com.

For those would like to donate to Safe Reunion/Long Beach call the Long Beach Police Foundation, at 562-343-5111, or log onto the non-profit organization’s website www.lbpolicefoundation.org.

About the Author
Contact Tracy Manzer  at [email protected] or 562-499-1261.

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