WEBVTT

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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]

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Project Lifesaver was implemented in 2002

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at the Lynchburg Sheriff's Office

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We wanted to offer this to the citizens

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of Lynchberg to give the caregivers

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and family members peace of mind that

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their loved ones can be found quickly

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Well I was a police officer in Chesapeake

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Virginia for 33 years

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One of my jobs was commanding officer of

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special operations which was

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SWAT and search and rescue.

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We were having a lot of recurring searches

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for Alzheimer's patients that had wandered

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and frankly we weren't doing a very

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good job of finding them.

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And I really was getting a little tired

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and disheartened about

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having to tell families that we were

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discontinuing the search or worse, that we

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had found them however

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Project Lifesaver, number one is a tool to

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help public safety personnel locate people

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that have a condition that would cause

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them to wander.

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It's not just equipment,

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that's the big thing

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We're not just a vendor or something,

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we're a programme.

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We have had 92 successful searches

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its a great feeling, its a great peace of

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mind for families and citizens of

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Lynchburg. We enjoy getting to know the

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families and building reports with

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them, so it really hits home when one

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wanders and you know more about them

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you have a bond with the family and

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the child or the adult.

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My fervent hope was to be able to find

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something that would help us in,

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making these searches more successful.

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I came across some information about

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wildlife tracking,

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and a thought occurred to me.

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If we can do this with wildlife,

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why can't we do it with people?

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So, I was able to contact a company,

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get them to work with me

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and develop a transmitter that

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could be put on a person's arm.

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And that was the start of

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Project Lifesaver.

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Our passion, our desire.

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We think Project Lifesaver,

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the Lynchburg Project

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Lifesaver program, is our premier

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community service program here in the

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city of Lynchberg.

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We provide it now

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at no cost to those that cannot afford it

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through an annual fundraiser and so,

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but, again the goal behind that is

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when we bring that individual back home,

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safely and historically with our 92 all

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within thirty minutes or less.

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The emotion that we feel, the

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satisfaction that we have done our job

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and done it well, with the assistance of

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this technology.

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You can't put a price on that because

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someone's life, someone's loved one

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is brought home and

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it makes a difference.

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I tell people when you work for

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Project Lifesaver International,

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it's not a job, it's a way of life.

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And you adapt yourself to it.

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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]

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I'm not getting a signal.

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We're going to have to call in the drone.

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I used to describe it and still do as when

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you're searching for somebody and you

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don't anything like this to help you, you

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are actually doing a swag search.

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And people say, 'Well what's a swag?'

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I said , it's a scientific wildass guess.

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Before Project Lifesaver

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you didn't have any resources

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but

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individuals.

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When we first started the program,

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I mean it was very bare basics.

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You know we had the receiver,

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we had the transmitter.

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And they were pretty,

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bare.

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I mean it was just,

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it was a, something had never

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been done before, so we were doing what

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we could with what we had.

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The new hat tracking equipment that

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could assist with you,

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assist with the search,

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narrow it down, make it a little faster,

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give that extra peace of mind

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to caregivers.

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Of course when the Project Lifesaver came

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to Lynchburg Sheriff's Office we

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had basic receivers that we used and in

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fact our first rescue we used those

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receivers and saved a ninety-two year-old

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lady that had wandered from a nursing home

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Using that equipment she was located

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in eight minutes and she would not have

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made it until morning, it was in December

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and all she had on was a house coat.

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I kept feeling, well we,

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we need to be stepping ahead.

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We need to improve all the time.

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We need to make it easier

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for the agencies, easier for the people.

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Give them more,

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more that they can work with.

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Then you're actually able to extend

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that

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through air searches.

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Which was wonderful

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but the availability of getting

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a helicopter in a timely manner

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and getting someone available to fly the

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helicopter, you're having to depend on

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other people and other departments and

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other resources.

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Helicopters are great, I love ' em.

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However, they're expensive

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and when you need 'em

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sometimes you can't get 'em.

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Maintenance issues, weather issues,

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crew issues.

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And even if you can get it,

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you're thirty to forty-five minutes

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and sometimes an hour away

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from it arriving on scene.

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Where with the drone, if you had that

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you could just implement the search right

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there, you don't have to depend on

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getting an outside agency to come in

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and start your search.

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Here's something you can have

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in the trunk of the car

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and it gives you what a helicopter would

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give you and it gives it to you

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much quicker, much cheaper.

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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]

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I was on a search and rescue at one point

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and the individual, he had autism,

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and he had wandered, and he had

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actually gone on his bicycle.

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So we do not know how far

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he had gotten at that point,

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we weren't getting a signal from

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his last known location, so of course we

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had to spread out our perimeter.

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But we live in a very hilly city,

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there's tons of hills, low dips, creeks,

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and he had actually gotten along a creek

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line and was just gunning it!

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I mean he had gotten miles from home,

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quickly,

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I mean he was a young boy. So,

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with having just the

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ground units, it made it difficult.

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The average Alzheimer's search lasts

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nine hours. The average cost is fifteen

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hundred dollars an hour.

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You factor that into

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you can search with this equipment

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and in thirty minutes find this person,

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this program is already paid for itself

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and much cheaper than you would have by

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launching this massive search.

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Lynchberg Project Lifesaver,

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Project Lifesaver International

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delivers exactly what it says.

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You know Project Lifesaver is just

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wonderful and it gives that extra peace

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of mind to the family members.

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I have made the statement that if it was

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just one person, that we were able to go

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out and bring home safely,

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this program would be worth it.

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I think a lot of people don't realize

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how big this problem is and if you don't

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think it's a big problem,

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pick up a newspaper,

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go on Facebook and look at all

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the searches for people that have

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wandered off

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and not been found.

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Listen. We've got NAFRA action reports

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Where it was plainly stated

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had not been for Project Lifesaver

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we would not have found this person.

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For different reasons.

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You know. I think it's, it's,

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it's simple.

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If we had a funding source

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we could do it for everybody.

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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]

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Female Officer - Dylan?

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Dylan - Yeah.

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Officer - Hi. I'm Sergeant Rodgers.

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Are you doing OK?

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Dylan - Yeah.

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Rodgers - So you're OK?

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Dylan - Yeah.

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Rodgers - You're Mamma's worried about you

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Did you wander away?

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Did you get a little bit lost?

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OK. Well we need to take you back

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to your mom's so she won't worry.

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OK? I'm glad you're OK

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[INAUDIABLE]

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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]

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- Roger. Subject located.

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[THEATRICAL MUSIC]