Fitting dementia patients with a GPS so that they can be monitored and recovered doesn’t seem like such a bad idea to me, but Sussex police have gotten a strong reaction to such a scheme. From the Guardian:

“Police have defended a ‘barbaric’ decision to buy GPS locating devices to trace people with dementia who disappear.

Sussex police have bought six battery-powered locators as part of a attempt to save money and time spent on searching for dementia patients.

The National Pensioners Convention described the introduction of the devices as ‘barbaric’ and suggested people could be stigmatized and made to feel like criminals.

But Sergeant Suzie Mitchell said: ‘The scheme is only costing Sussex police a few hundred pounds but, comparing this to police time, resources, potential risk to the missing person, let alone the anxiety and worry for their family, it is, in my opinion, a few hundred pounds well spent.'”