LORAIN COUNTY, Ohio — The Lorain County Sheriff's Office showed Spectrum News 1 a special bracelet with a transmitter inside. It can help the sheriff’s office track someone with autism if they get lost. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Lorain County Sheriff's Office's program helps track people who have wandered off

  • Deputies can track people with a bracelet, which is connected to information about that individual in a database
  • Once a family qualifies, they share information about the individual who will wear the tracker, and that information is entered into a database

  • The program can help families of people who are on the autism spectrum, especially children who might get lost

“The transmitter has a distinctive number that’s assigned to the client. We put that in our database," said Lt. Robert Vansant. 

Vansant said a family can participate if they have a child who meets their qualifications. Specific information about that child is then put into a database so officers know a little bit about who they’re tracking.

“It has a picture of the client. It gives us their condition, emergency contact information, if they’re verbal or non-verbal and if they have a history of being combative or not," Vansant said. 

The sheriff's department uses a device to track the bracelet. It beeps louder as the person using it gets closer to the bracelet.

Vansant said the device can detect a bracelet’s signal from up to a mile away, which is important since time is critical to finding the lost person as soon as possible. 

“If this were on a subject or a person, you’d want to start looking for hiding spots. You might see them in the open, you may see them running," Vansant said. 

He tested the device and followed the beep, using his ears as his eyes. He found the tracker in about a minute. 

“It’s important to use it as not a way to sneak up on someone, but you’re coming to help them and they’re not afraid of it," Vansant said. 

Vansant said they can send more than one deputy out with the tracking device to widen their search pattern. They haven’t had to use this system yet, but said they will be ready if someone goes missing.