Avon and Somerset Police will be offering GPS trackers to people living with dementia who are at high risk of going missing.
The force said on Tuesday it has secured 30 devices developed by Somerset-based company MindMe, following a donation by local water companies. Its dementia safeguarding scheme has been using the technology since 2015, but will now offer them to 30 people it considers to be the most vulnerable based on risk assessments.
According to data gathered by the University of East Anglia, 70% of dementia sufferers are at risk of going missing at least once, while 40,000 are reported missing for the first time each year. Some may go missing multiple times, the research found.
