Their offenses vary from truancy to sexual assault, and they are tracked 24/7. In addition to receiving an eagle-eyed view on the children, which won over Subealdea, probation officers can also view the device's battery levels on their computers and notify kids that they need to charge the battery.Ĭurrently 11 children from ages 12 to 16 have been ordered by the court to wear the devices. And the minute the kids leave, it's tracking them." "You put it on in the office and set it on the computer. Subealdea said the system is hassle-free. With the new system, tracking begins once it has been activated and gives precise details, unlike landlines that only let probation officers know if the person is at home or within a certain range. Previously, slower landline tracking systems required probation officers to go to an offender's house, set up the unit, make sure it worked, and call the tracking center to ensure that it was up and running. The one-piece device is easy to use and can be installed in as little as five minutes. If the probation officer just wants to know of any violations by e-mail, then they can do that as well." "If the probation officers want to be notified immediately, the tracking center will call the officers and let them know on their cell phones. "You can set up how you want to do it," Subealdea said. In other cases, a juvenile might be warned to stay away from a location or find an alternate route to wherever he or she needs to go. "If you're at the computer, you know exactly where the kids are."įor example, if an offender burglarized a house on X Street and he or she is within 300 feet of that premise, a probation officer can be alerted immediately via e-mail or cell phone, at which point the delinquent could be taken into custody. "Omnilink has a Web site that you can go to and track them," he said. Six of 10 with Alzheimer's will wander away at some point, according to the Alzheimer's Association.Eddie Subealdea, Hale County's chief probation officer, said his department uses the offender monitoring system to ensure that kids aren't violating court orders and curfew or ditching school. There is no cure for Alzheimer's, although symptoms can be treated to lessen its affects. The disease causes memory loss as it destroys brain cells and accounts for 50% to 70% of all dementia cases. That number is expected to grow to as many as 16 million by 2050, according to the the association's 2009 Alzheimer's Disease Facts & Figures report. Pricing for the service varies, beginning at $42.99 a month with a $45.00 activation fee.Īlzheimer's disease is a progressive and fatal brain disease affecting about 5.3 million people in the U.S.
These zones and alerts can be adjusted as the disease progresses. "Comfort Zone is an interactive safety service that allows people with the disease to be more active and caregivers to be more confident whether they are in the same house, down the street, at work or across the country." Beth Kallmyer, director of Family and Information Services at the Alzheimer's Association, said in a statement.įamilies or caregivers can log into a secure, password-protected Web site similar to logging into most e-mail systems and establish safety zones in which their relative can roam. Comfort Zone also offers families assistance with 24/7 monitoring center services and access to emergency health records from the MedicAlert Foundation. The message is sent within two to 30 minutes, depending on the family's selected tracking plan. If an Alzheimer's sufferer strays outside a pre-set zone, the software uses GPS and cellular technologies with online mapping to proactively send a text message or e-mail with the person's location. It is the first comprehensive location management system designed specifically for Alzheimer's patients.Ĭomfort Zone uses OmniLink's FocalPoint tracking software and relies on GPS to find almost any location-enabled tracking device, which can then be used to monitor the location of an individual.
The association's Comfort Zone service was released earlier this month and is powered by Omnilink tracking services. The Alzheimer's Association has unveiled a new Web-based application that works with various mobile devices to track people suffering from dementia who may wander off at some point during their illness.