Bills introduced this legislative session would establish a “silver alert” program to locate and safeguard missing kupuna who have cognitive impairments such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Senate Bill 2567 and SB 2552, with their companion House Bill 1773, would require law enforcement officers to undergo training to recognize signs of Alzheimer’s disease and all types of dementia.
Six in 10 people with dementia will wander, might forget their name and address and could display hostile and aggressive behaviors, according to the Alzheimer’s Association Hawaii Chapter.
LJ Duenas, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association Hawaii Chapter, said these bills could give “opportunity to find these individuals that may be lost or have ended up homeless.”
“The brain is dying, so these folks may have a different reality than we do,” he said. “It’s a difficult disease to grasp, which is why we think it’s so important that there be awareness and understanding of what the disease is.”
The Alzheimer’s Association supported these bills Friday during the Senate Committees on Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs and Health and Human Services hearing.
“With law enforcement officers being on the forefront and having interactions with them, they have the opportunity to make that determination,” Duenas told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
The association also said Hawaii is one of the few states in the nation that does not have a formalized silver alert — a public notification system used to broadcast information about missing people, especially seniors who have brain diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Three more bills — SB 2305, and its companion HB 1774, and SB 2486 — this session would establish a silver alert program within the Department of Law Enforcement.
DLE testified for SB 2305, “We currently have the Amber Alert program to serve the same function for endangered children and youth. However, a similar tool currently does not exist for the elderly, cognitively impaired, or developmentally disabled. This bill helps fill this extremely needed void for the protection of these people.”
Rielle Rasmussen also testified privately and on behalf of Oahu Search and Rescue.
As a K-9 handler, Rasmussen was involved in the William Burr case in October — a 79-year-old Mililani man with dementia who was found dead two months after going missing.
“This bill is so important,” she said. “We are getting the people of Hawaii what they need to look for their loved ones.”
Duenas said it’s important for legislators to continue conversations about these issues because “the number of people that have dementia going undiagnosed is increasing,” and it is essential for Hawaii to keep its citizens safe.
