RC News-Herald Editorial

The Bertie and Northampton County Sheriff’s Departments have recently taken an important step toward keeping elderly and disabled citizens safer.

&uot;Project Lifesaver,&uot; which launched Wednesday in Northampton County and Thursday in Bertie, gives the families of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s or a similar ailment the security of knowing their loved ones can be found quickly if they go missing.

Thanks to the dedication of Bertie County Sheriff Greg Atkins, Northampton County Sheriff Wardie Vincent, and the hard work of the workers from North Carolina Project Lifesaver’s specialized team, this effort was made possible.

All parties involved are to be commended for their devotion to this cause.

In both Bertie and Northampton County, five bracelets have been provided for use in each county to individuals who habitually wander away from home.

These bracelets are used as tracking devices when one of those people is reported missing.

Instead of it taking days and a team of law enforcement officers and tracking dogs to find a missing person, the Project Lifesaver bracelets can be used in conjuncture with the mobile tracking device to find that person in an average of eight to 12 minutes.

Last year, Hertford County made use of the bracelets among their elderly and disabled citizens.

Kudos are in order for Bertie and Northampton for joining Hertford and the other estimated 15 North Carolina sheriff’s departments to make use of these devices.

These law enforcement officers are to be commended for carrying out their oath, &uot;to protect and serve.&uot;

For more information on Bertie and Northampton County’s implementation of this program, see Tuesday’s edition of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.