ORLANDO, Fla. — Police departments often get calls for missing persons with a mental disability. This includes people with autism, Alzheimer’s, and Dementia.

The Tavares Police Department is now trying to do their part in helping to grow “Operation Aware.”

On a Thursday evening, Officer Courtney Bannick is getting ready for another day on patrol. After driving out of the department's lot, she checks and locks the city bathrooms. This is to make sure there's no vandalism and that no people sleep there.

Prior to joining the TPD, she was an officer with Howey-In-the-Hills PD. It was there she assisted with Lake Hills School, which is a school for mentally inclined people with disabilities.

On this night, Officer Bannick has a special stop. After locking the city bathrooms she is headed to the Flint household. It’s there she will speak with 10 year old Cayden Flint, and his mother Mikel.

“He has a language impairment,” Flint's mother says, answering a question asked by Bannick. “It is hard for him sometimes to answer more complex questions.”

Flint is also on the spectrum, has ADHD, and a growth hormone deficiency. The 10-year-old appears to be five. His mother says he primarily struggles with communication and social skills.

That’s why Bannick is getting Flint set up with Operation Aware.

“We see on the news everyday about kids with autism who wonder off and don’t make it home,” Flint's mother says. “I will do everything I can as a parent that that never happens to my child.”

Bannick takes out a blue wristband and makes her way to Flint

“Make sure you where this everyday, OK?” Bannick says. “It can get wet, you don’t have to charge it, once it goes on it doesn’t have to come off unless your mom says so, OK?”

The 10-year-old boy who may have a tough time communicating, has no problem understanding the importance of his new bracelet.

“Ya, ya, ya it helps me,” Cayden says while playing with his trains. “It helps me not get lost.”

The Operation Aware program and blue bracelet is free. Families provide information for the person that will wear the bracelet and the bracelet is assigned a code. That code is then sent to an online database for law enforcement to know everything they need to know about the person that may be missing or they are confronting.

“I know that a lot of our participants are the elderly and they have the Alzheimers dementia stuff like that,” Bannick begins to explain. “So they may not be able to tell us their name, or where they live.”

Operation Aware not only comes with a blue bracelet with important information, but a squad car now equipped with spin gadgets, poppers, noise makers, and chewers.

“I never would have thought I would have a ziplock bag full of toys in my patrol car that would be needed for me to be a cop, Bannick says smiling. “But anything to make people feel more comfortable, I’ll carry anything.”

Tavares police officers like Officer Bannick still carry a gun, handcuffs, and a body cam, but they also now carry toys for kids and adults with autism, to help keep their community safe.

Operation Aware began with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in 2021. Tavares PD is the first city department in Lake County to provide Operation Aware bracelets. They say they have distributed bracelets to people ranging from age 2 to 92.