Police remind people where to report lost and found property

Cumbria Constabulary is launching a campaign reminding members of the public what to with property they find.

This campaign has been introduced following confusion as to who is responsible in reconnecting found property with their owners. It is a legal requirement for a person to make reasonable attempts to find the owner of any property they find.

The Constabulary is responsible for any property linked to a crime and would encourage those who find property that they believe to be part of a crime to report this to police.

If property is found on a business or an organisation’s premises, members of the public are asked to hand this into the management who will then be responsible for the attempts to find the owner.

The Constabulary from the 1st October will no longer record any lost property they receive, this is in order to allow officers and staff to focus on their core policing roles.

You can help protect your valuable possessions by registering it for free with the UK National Property Register, Immobilise. Cumbria Police work with Immobilise when tracing owners of lost and stolen property. For more information please visit www.immobilise.com.   

Performance Manager Garry Armstrong said “Many members of the public believe that they must report a loss of property to the police, this is not the case. Lost property must be reported to the relevant issuing authority such as the DVLA for driving licences, the passport agency for passports and the relevant bank for bank cards and cheque books.

“The situation is similar with regards to found property, the responsibility belongs with the person who finds this or the organisation where the item is found.

“We will continue to assist the community by pointing them in the right direction to do this and help as much as we possibly can. We will also be giving out information and advice at our front counters and police desks.

“This change will enable officers to deal with property that we store as part of a crime rather than property that has simply been lost. The property we do store will hopefully enable us to detect who is responsible for the crime and officers can then work on reuniting these items with their owner.

"We would like to assure members of the public that if there is any suspicion that an item which has been found is related to a crime we will store it and make enquiries.”

 

For more information on what to do with items found or property that you have lost please visit www.cumbria.police.uk/lostandfound.