Cambridgeshire police to stop taking lost property reports - and will accept fewer found items

The changes will take effect nationally from today (February 1) 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 will reduce and a consistent approach will be adopted across the country. This will help reduce call volumes and remove an unnecessary burden on policing.

Inspector Keren Pope said: “As with any change to a long-standing convention, it will take time for people to get used to this new way of working.

“There are now many ways of receiving the same service online and information and guidance will be available on our website. These changes will result in a significant saving for forces in terms of time and money, allowing us to concentrate on the issues most important to people.

“For found items we no longer accept, with some exceptions, the finder will be encouraged to 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.”

Those who have lost or found an item can visit the force website for guidance on what they should do.

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

Rejected

· 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.