Missing senior with dementia located using Automated Licence Plate Reader

Automatic Licence Plate Readers (ALPR) are often used to identify suspended drivers or expired licence plates, but in one recent case, the use of such a device may well have saved the life of an elderly person with dementia.

On Saturday, Jun. 3, 2023, the Lennox and Addington (L&A) County Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say they located a missing eighty-eight year old male who had dementia with the help of the ALPR System.

Officers were on regular duty patrol on Highway 401 at approximately 1:00 a.m. when they received a “missing person hit” on the ALPR system in their patrol vehicle.

According to OPP, the vehicle that received the missing person hit was located and eventually stopped just east of Odessa on Hwy 401.

“The elderly male had been missing from Mississauga for two days,” OPP said in a press release regarding the incident. The male was taken to L&A Hospital for observation and subsequently reunited with his family.