A new registry is giving police the information needed to act quickly when certain people are reported as missing.
The Timmins Police Service has launched a vulnerable persons registry.
It allows people responsible for the care of a vulnerable person to register for free.
The form, available on the Timmins Police website, asks for the name, description, methods of communication, as well as where the vulnerable person may wander to or things that may attract them.
"It’s a proactive measure that will cut down on the response time so that officers can devote their energy and their deployment to searching rather than harvesting information from the person reporting the actual missing person as such," said Marc Depatie, Timmins Police corporate communications co-ordinator.
The registry is for people with an acquired brain injury, autism spectrum disorder, Alzheimer's or dementia, or other cognitive impairments.
“It is a highly-effective tool used in other areas. We see the merit in deploying it here in the Timmins area as well,” he said.
If someone on the registry is reported missing, Depatie explained the same protocol would be followed to let the public know.
“Time is of the essence when it comes to missing persons, the better we are able to respond, the more information we have at hand the more likely it is the outcome will be positive,” he said.
For the special needs community, Timmins and District Victim Services victim support worker Kerry Trudel said the possibility of this happening is a huge concern.
“Having this is really going to put a lot of people at ease that we deal with on a regular basis,” she said.
Trudel said victim services often works in collaboration with police when there is a missing person or child to support the families.
Other partners for the program are Crime Stoppers and the Seizure and Brain Injury Centre.
The form is available here. Police ask that you drop the completed form and photos off at the polices station located at 185 Spruce St. S, or fax 705-360-8707.
