The Maywood Police Department has developed a new program to help find senior citizens and residents with disabilities who might go missing.

The department is giving out free scent kits to any resident who would like one. The kit allows a person to save their human scent so that it is easier for a police bloodhound to locate them.

Maywood Police Detective Christopher Nichols says that having a readily available scent when a loved one goes missing is essential to finding that person.

The Maywood Police Department, using K9 Officer Remi, was able to find 75 missing people in the county last year. Remi is able to follow the scent trail a person’s skin cells leave behind.

“Over time, just the same as confetti would, wind, weather starts breaking this up. So, time is important where this is concerned. Time is paramount,” says Nichols.

Nichols says that this is why using items like Find’Em Scent Safes are important. The department is giving them out to the elderly and disabled residents. Nichols says that Maywood is the first police department in the country to give the kits to eligible residents free of charge.

“They were purchased through seized funds, so it’s at no cost to the taxpayer,” he says.

Users can swab their bodies with the gauze that is included in the kit. The cause is then put back inside the kid, which is locked and stored in a freezer.

“Should we ever have to come out and locate your relative or loved one, this is guaranteed to be there,” says Nichols.

The kits should last for up to a year if they are stored correctly and not tampered with.

Nichols says that eligible residents can apply for the kit at the Maywood Police Department. They are also available for purchase online.