Monmouth County Sets Up New Registry For People With Special Needs

FREEHOLD, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Monmouth County is working to improve the relationship between emergency responders and the special needs community – with a new registry.

As CBS2's Meg Baker reported, the registry is the first of its kind.

Fran Hines is the parent of an 18-year-old special needs child. Hines said he takes extra precautions to keep his son safe, but they have had a few close calls.

"We couldn't find, and we were panicked, and we called 911, and thankfully we found him," Hines said.

Colton Hines said he has wandered off a few times, and was frozen in fear.

"I was pretty scared, I will admit," he said. "I didn't really know what to do."

Monmouth County is hoping to be of extra assistance in these situations. On Wednesday, they introduced the state-of-the art registry.

It documents anyone who may need special assistance from fire, police or EMS due to physical, medical or cognitive limitations. That includes people with autism, elders with dementia, and people with speech impediments or who are deaf.

"We know now that this this information that family members can put into the system will be at the fingertips tips as an alert to the name or the address," said Sheriff Shaun Golden.

The responding officer is then armed with the information.

"Law enforcement has seen incidents where certain behavior or a lack of behavior was easily misconstrued by that officer as some kind of furtive or dangerous activity," said Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

The registry is a voluntary program where families can enter additional information, such as calming methods for someone who is autistic.

"If we know, for instance, that the child likes trains or likes baseball, the officer armed with that information can talk with them about that, and hopefully gain their confidence and keep the situation calm," said Monmouth County Detective Det. Shawn Murphy.

Gramiccioni said more than 10 percent of the population in Monmouth County can be characterized as having special needs. That is more than 60,000 people.

Residents can sign up for the registry free of charge.