ForumGarden

The front counter of the local police station has always been the first port of call for an honest citizen who finds somebody else’s property dropped in the street.

But now police across the country are refusing to handle lost items – telling members of the public they must track down the rightful owners themselves.

Some forces even tell people to put up signs in shops with details of the found items, and to throw away unidentified keys, because they no longer have the time or staff to deal with the paperwork.

Last night police were condemned for abandoning this traditional role.

Jack Dromey, Labour’s shadow policing spokesman, said: ‘This is yet another example of how DIY policing is becoming the norm.’

Until recently, front-counter staff at police stations would take in anything found in the street and log the details so that it could be reunited with the owner if they got in touch. Forces would keep items in central stores, although valuables would eventually be auctioned off or given to charity if they had not been claimed.

But forces across England and Wales have quietly changed their policies due to budget cuts. Last week Cumbria Constabulary announced a new regime under which the public are told: ‘When you have found some property it is your legal obligation to try to reunite it with the owner. You could do this by putting a notice in the local shop or near where you found the item.’

The force tells finders to work out to whom bank cards, phones, passports should be returned and to pass bikes and stray dogs to local councils. Keys should be ‘disposed of securely’.

A month ago the Metropolitan Police stated that anyone who finds items such as clothes, bags or spectacles in the street should ‘make reasonable enquiries’ to identify the owner.

Lancashire Police also tells finders of lost property: ‘Your legal obligation is to try to reunite it with the owner. You could do this by putting up a notice near to where you found the item.’ Anyone who finds identification documents is told to work out where they should be returned to.

Warwickshire and West Mercia Police say they have ‘no legal obligation to collect found items nor to store them’. Merseyside Police it ‘does not take reports of lost property nor issue lost property reference numbers’.

West Midlands Police still takes found items but does not take reports from people who have lost items.

Greater Manchester Police said its policy is under review.

Read more: Police turn away lost property and tell public track down the owners yourself�* | Daily Mail Online

AAG

what ever happened to the good old days of dixon of dock green ?

when it was reassuring to see a policeman walking down the street or a police car glide by in the middle of the night making sure we are safe in our beds and the local villans are not up to no good.

what happened to the days when a lost item was re united with its owner courtesey of the local bobby i,ll tell you gone

gone are the days when the police were there in a few minutes if you were burgled unless you live in the more affluent areas of the town now its more likely to be a couple of days after which the toe rag who stole from you will have sold the item and be on the look out for the next thing worth nicking no wonder people dont bother to report crimes to the police because now they,re not intrested and i can testify to that myself but wont so as not to make the column too long.

but telling people to find the owners themselves makes the police service look a joke in fact these days the police are a joke .

and it all comes down to budgets and money... money you pay in council taxes so the government doesnt a government who live in the leafy surrey suburbs far away from crime ridden sink estates.

its a sad passing of the police force we as kids used to look up to

a police force that closes local police stations leaving some villages without a police service at night a police service thats now more concerned with targets and box ticking than crime.

a police service that prioritises the more affluent wealthy estates to crime ridden sink estates yet theres still enough in the kitty for the police commisioners pay rise for all the paper they have to push and meetings they go to and enough for the police to hide in the bushes and catch motorists out at £60 a time but not enough to tackle everything else even with pcso,s who are supposed to take on the jobs like those i,ve mentioned leaving the police free to deal with other crime this country,s become lawless and ferrile

where the police favour the criminal no wondert most people keep some sort of weapon behind the door these days only thing is if you use it you are more likely to be locked up as opposed to the burglar.

Forgot to tell you I like seeing you back Mr. Grumpy.

Police Stations are shutting down all over the place. We lost Staple Hill police Station In Bristol very recently, a bastion of a place where the public could go. I'll always remember during the time of 8 years of vandalism to our war memorial, ( the 8 years of vandalism that my arresting officer denied knowing anything about under oath, despite her Inspector stating under oath just prior to her that he recognised those 8 years ) the Chairman of The Royal British Legion marching In there to the public desk every time he had evidence of more destruction. On one such occassion, carrying In an entire bench donated by the family of one dead soldier and dumping the planks of wood on the enquiries desk.

This Is now a central office nearby where the public have no access. I had someone contact me recently that a disabled young man had been arrested and needing an Appropriate Adult, could not make the long Journey to the nearest Nick where he had been taken miles away.

As for lost property. Last year we had a bunch of scroats In my private lane who stuck out like a sore thumb. I went out very late at night to find 3 bikes abandoned In the lane. They could have been nicked out of gardens In the lane or could have belonged to the scroats... either way, I did my duty and phoned Avon and Somerset police to report my find. Far from a cheery copper calling at my house, I was asked to go out In the dark with a torch to look for serial numbers, type, model etc, which I did. I was then Informed there was no lost property office remotely near me and I was expected to keep them at my house In case someone reported them stolen. In the end, rather than take up my back yard, we did our own Investigation and returned them to the gardens they were nicked from.

I remember the days when you found something & took it to the Police Station & hoped no-one claimed it, because after 30 days it would be legally yours.

FourPart;1465742 wrote: I remember the days when you found something & took it to the Police Station & hoped no-one claimed it, because after 30 days it would be legally yours.


Oh yes, so can I! Good memories.

So can I...but the 30 day legal limit Is still In force. I was told with the bikes to keep them and after 30 days, I could sell them.

A few months ago I reported an abandoned bike & asked if I should bring it in. I was told not to, because they don't deal with stolen bikes any more.

So much for all the UV security pens to write postcodes on bikes & registering frame numbers with the Police. What's the point?

I think they are helpful because If needed, you can prove the Items are yours.

I have a Golf Cart In my shed right now awaiting someone to report It stolen. Found on a roundabout In the middle of the day.

Oscar Namechange;1465761 wrote: I think they are helpful because If needed, you can prove the Items are yours.

I have a Golf Cart In my shed right now awaiting someone to report It stolen. Found on a roundabout In the middle of the day.
I understand the theory behind it & agree with you, but one has to ask what the point is of registering it with the Police when they won't even do anything about it when you try to hand something in. When I reported that bike they never even asked for any identifying marks or a frame number. If they had there may have been the possibility that they had it registered to the owner & thus returned it to them - or at least would have been able to notify them where it was.

great to be back AB did you miss your grumps?

oscar old bean nice to see you

AA grumpy;1465769 wrote: great to be back AB did you miss your grumps?


I like having you around.

AA grumpy;1465770 wrote: oscar old bean nice to see you


Likewise, my fellow BNP Patriot and Nationalist. A lot has happened In the Party over the past few months, so If you want the real dirty gossip, I'll send that to you privately.

Just stick around longer this time OK ? :-4

The problems with the downsizing In the police force, Is that It leaves It open to Insurance fraud. We had our garages broken Into very recently, one of which was us... Thank God, just weeks prior, we had emptied 99 % of It, all my parents furnature etc. We do lose some expensive tools though like the Hydraulic jacks etc and we didn't claim on the Insurance but It's very easy for people to abuse that.

As 8 or so garages got busted, we did have a local cheery copper come out and have a look and he Issued crime numbers for us to claim but he just didn't have enough hours In the day to log every victim and every Item stolen. Thus, It's open to abuse..