By Daily Press staff
The Santa Monica Police Department has created an identification program that will help track lost senior citizens.
The police department plans to set up a database of senior citizens that will have all relative information about them like their address, as well as a photo. The registry will be confidential and will only be used by Santa Monica police officers to search for characteristics that match those of the lost person. Police say the registry will reduce the amount of time it takes to identify a person and notify his or her caregiver.
“From time to time, our officers are called upon to assist lost senior citizens,” said SMPD Chief James Butts. “Often these individuals are disoriented and unable to remember their names or where they live. They sometimes experience a long wait while the officers try to identify and return them to safety and comfort of their home.”
Last year, the city of Santa Monica received grant funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The city council has earmarked a portion of that funding for the automated personal identification registry.
If anyone would like to be registered in the identification program, contact Sharon De Cruz at 458-8451 or
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 28, 2001. Read the original PDF.