A revived effort to help speed up the search for missing kids and adults with special needs is now on its way to the Senate floor, though it now differs a bit from its House counterpart.
By using GPS-like technology, Rep. Elizabeth Porter (R-Lake City) says her bill would help law enforcement find people prone to wandering off.
“…be they autistic or Alzheimer’s disease, and if once we have completed the pilot project, we find that it has been successful in locating these eloped individuals and saving their lives, at that point we can make a fiscally responsible case for going statewide with this program,” she said.
Both the House and Senate bills offer pilot projects in Baker, Columbia, Hamilton, Suwanee, and because of a new change, Alachua counties. The Senate version by Sen. Charlie Dean (R-Inverness) also adds Palm Beach and Broward. While that bill just passed its last committee, Porter’s measure has only its first House hearing. Similar bills died last session.
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