Nassau County Legislators Howard Kopel and Denise Ford, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano and Acting Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter announced today that the Nassau County Police Department will host a registration drive for the Return Every Adult & Child Home (R.E.A.C.H.) Program to assist families with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, Autism, and other cognitive disorders. The R.E.A.C.H. Program registration drive will take place on Thursday, August 20th from 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. at the Lifehouse, located at 112 Spruce Street in Cedarhurst.
County Executive Mangano stated, "My administration launched the R.E.A.C.H. Program to provide law enforcement with information and photos of individuals who suffer from cognitive disorders. Our goal is to help return every adult and child home without incident when they go missing."
Individuals registered with the R.E.A.C.H. Program have their information stored in a secure police database so that when law enforcement is notified of a missing loved one, the NCPD can disseminate a photo and pertinent information through the NCPD’s Real Time Intel system. In addition, while on patrol, officers can review the database of registrants’ photographs and information. If officers spot a registrant far from home, looking confused or lost, they can return them safely.
“Adults and children with Cognitive disorders can quickly become confused and disoriented. I encourage all those with an affected family member to sign up for R.E.A.C.H., to help safely return a loved one should they go missing,” said Legislator Howard Kopel.
R.E.A.C.H. Identification Cards, lanyards and wristbands will be provided to each registrant as a tool to assist officers in identifying individuals registered in the R.E.A.C.H. Program. The program provides an extra comfort for caregivers knowing that their loved one’s information can be immediately disseminated to every precinct, patrol car, village and Silver Alert to the media. If a family is traveling out of town with their loved one(s) they can be comforted in knowing that, wherever they are, the information can be provided to other law enforcement agencies to help locate their loved one.
“If you have a loved one that you are concerned about, please come and participate in the REACH program. This added level of safety can bring your family peace of mind,” said Legislator Denise Ford.
Registration is free and takes approximately 10 minutes for each individual. Registration is also available at the NCPD's Asset Forfeiture Unit on weekdays from 9am to 4pm. To schedule a registration time, please call (516) 573-5775.