A process and system for detecting the presence of a person overboard including: setting the perimeter of an area to scan, scanning the area 180 degrees in azimuth utilizing a laser beam for receiving a reflection of the laser beam off the person, detecting the reflection and playing back a video recording of the trajectory of the person, wherein the area above and below the perimeter of an area to scan is continuously video recorded and wherein upon detecting the target, one or more of audio and visual alarms alert that crew, and wherein an alarm with location is sent to PDA system with GPS coordinates time and date. Additionally a launcher deploys a device to track the person overboard, and allows persons on the ship or in a control center to ascertain the location of the person overboard.