Lost And Found – Police Role Changes

Lost And Found – Police Role Changes

We’ve joined police forces nationwide by ceasing to take reports of lost property and accepting only certain types of found item.

The changes took effect nationally from 1 February after the Chief Constables’ Council agreed it as a way of reducing non-essential demand and the associated costs and bureaucracy generated for call centres and front counters.

The police service has traditionally accepted the responsibility of recording lost and found property, despite there being no statutory duty to maintain a system of recording non-evidential property.

Found items dealt with by police have reduced and a consistent approach adopted across the country. This will help reduce call volumes and remove an unnecessary burden on policing.

If you have lost or found an item, visit the force website for guidance on what to do. Further detail on our lost and found policy is below.

Kind regards

Inspector Keren Pope

Lost items

Any loss can be reported online at sites including:

www.lostbox.co.uk
www.immobilise.com
www.reportmyloss.com (for an insurance report)
For bicycles, register and report at www.bikeregister.com
Report UK Passports at https://www.gov.uk/report-a-lost-or-stolen-passport

Details of losses reported via these methods are made available to police forces across the UK.

If you have lost property in a public place/premises or on public transport, contact the location or service provider directly.

Found items

The following categories have been created for found items:

Accepted

·         Items capable of containing data e.g mobile phones and computers.
·         Cash and wallets that are identifiable
·         Unidentifiable cash
·         Identity and personal documents

We do not accept

·         Bicycles
·         Personal but unidentifiable items
·         Clothing
·         Keys
·         Jewellery

For non-accepted items, with some exceptions, the finder can retain the property. They are under no legal obligation to hand in the property providing they have made a reasonable attempt to return it to the owner.