Police Officer Helps Family Acquire Safety Device For Son

From City of Colorado Springs:

Thu, 07/25/2019 - 8:22am

Every time a local family called to report their son missing, Colorado Springs Police Officer Alison Steinhardt was there to help.

It started a few months ago when CSPD first received reports that a young boy with autism named Hunter went missing from his home. Officers from the Gold Hill area, including Officer Steinhardt, started an immediate search. To make things more difficult, Hunter is non-verbal, and was described as elusive. However, after hours of intensive searching, officers finally found him.But this wasn’t an isolated incident.

Hunter wandered away from home multiple times, and was sometimes found miles away. Although he was always located, Officer Steinhardt knew there had to be a better, more safe, way to locate him. Officer Steinhardt spent hours, days, and months researching different methods to aid in the CSPD’s efforts. She learned that multiple law enforcement agencies across Colorado were using GPS platforms to locate missing kids and adults like Hunter. Officer Steinhardt briefed her commander on the situation and advised him she would personally purchase the device for Hunter’s family and pay for every monthly service fee.

“Her efforts were nothing short of commendable,” said CSPD Commander Sean Mandel. Instead of having Officer Steinhardt spend her own money, Commander Mandel reached out to AngelSense, a company who provides GPS solutions designed for children with special needs.

After explaining Hunter’s situation, AngelSense offered their product and service fee free of charge for the first 30-days. The GPS device was delivered to Officer Steinhardt, who then visited Hunter’s family to assist them with the device activation and set-up. In addition to helping secure a GPS device, Officer Steinhardt contacted the Department of Human Services and the Resource Exchange to financially aid Hunter’s family with the monthly service fee.

In his “Chief’s Vision and Values Award” recommendation letter to CSPD Chief Vince Niski, Commander Mandel stated, “Officer Steinhardt is to be commended for the compassion and care she showed for Hunter and his family.” In a special ceremony earlier last week, Officer Steinhardt was presented with the” Chief’s Vision and Values Award” and applauded for going above and beyond.

This press release was produced by City of Colorado Springs. The views expressed here are the author’s own.