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Police Lost Property craziness....please help!!!
Davonator
Posts: 5 Forumite
I'm a bit shellshocked, i think i have been a pretty honest chap....but some crazy police policy has really damaged my faith in doing the right thing......but it's not too late yet, and i really hope someone can help. Sadly though i'm going to have to tell you a short story. But the fact it's long enough to bedeemed a story tells you how out of the way i've gone.
Late july I was walking my dog on a country footpath in the early evening and saw something glistening in the long grass....picked it up and it was an ipod nano!!! It was slightly wet, but working perfectly so i put it in my pocket, went to the car and hastily put up a sign at the footpath entrance saying 'mp3 player found', and my contact details.
As i am an ipod owner anyway i took it home and went about searching for the owners details. Checked in addresses....no address. telephone numbers.....no numbers. However a look at settings showed me it belonged to 'Chris'. then looking at the music chris was really into heavy metal ( slipknot, iron maiden).
Annoyingly the only scrap of info was this 'Chris'
BUT I remembered that each ipod has a serial number. So i phoned Apple (and waited a few minutes on their no doubt premium care number) and said ''I found an ipod Nano' if i give you the serial number can you see if you have anyone registered to it. If you do please contact them and give them my number and tell them i've found it and want to give it back'.
Normally apple don't do this, but the nice operator lady saw it was special case and said she'd give it a try.......She phoned me back an hour later and said they had a number on record, but the number was 'dead' (don't know what she meant by that, her words).
Next day, still no call from the sign i put up outside the footpath. SO i did what we're told to do since we were at primary school, if you can't locate the owner hand it into the police!
Went to the police station, chatted to the copper. Told him where we found it, and that all we could ascertain was 'Chris' and the fact he liked heavy metal music. he then gave us the green lost property slip, which we filled out. and gave us the classic police spiel about 6 weeks for owner to contact, then after that if there was no claim we could claim it as being ours.
Today (7 weeks later)
went to the police station, as no one had called in for the Ipod. ''Sorry we can't let you have it, as it's an electronic device we can't let you take it for confidentiality purposes as it may contain personal information. i'm afraid it will have to be destroyed :eek:''
I said quite quickly, ''oh don't worry it doesn't have any personal info on there....in fact i wish it did, as i was looking for ages to find a hint of an address or contact number so i could give it back''.
The guy looked a bit embarrassed and said 'i'm sorry sir, but i can give you the number of a superior'. We called her, she then said the same thing, and i gave the same answer.
She then said 'yes but, we know from previous police experiences that criminals can use advanced software to try and extract personal information embedded in the coding of machines, that may not be apparent'. I then replied that I had the Ipod in my posession for 48 hours before I handed it in and that IF I was one of the 0.1% criminally inclined hackers in the UK, that would do that, I would have done it when I had it''.
Then seeing as there was no logical argument, she kept repeating the classic fall back 'it's policy' line. But said I can send a letter outlines my protests to a arbitration officer who will weigh up the situation blah blah blah blah.....more time, more effort'.
I'm just very upset by this. I have done the right thing, I have made the effort to reunite a valuable gadget to it's owner....and after going through the correct way (which you're always taught to do).....The police are now gonna toss a perfectly good ipod into an incinerator/crusher (on a side note, hardly the most ecological use), as policy, on the basis I may be some superhacker who is looking to bleed it dry for criminal doings. Even though there is no personal data on there, and 99.9% of the population aren't criminally inclined computer hackers.
It's bureaucracy and a 'worst case scenario' logic triumphing over honest 'common sense'. I do the good, honest citizen thing (spend minutes on hold to a premium apple mac care line, do a 20 minute detour to the police station) and it's insinuated that I can't have it as I may be looking to illegally exploit it......thanks Thames Valley Police.
What Can i do???? The policeman NEVER said that it was going to be destroyed if unclaimed when I hand it in.AND the lost property slip doesn't state that either.
What upsets me most though is that it's even again another nail in the coffin of honesty. If I find another IPod, I'll still look to see if there are contact details, i'll still do the hasty sign......but you know I'm not going to go the extra mile anymore, nothing personal.....it's thames valley police's fault. I'm out of pocket too, I've wasted hours, money and fuel trying to solve this....when i didn't have too
I feel I must apologize to that Ipod, I feel that by being honest I've given it the death sentence.
HOWEVER the lady i spoke to put a note on it to halt it's destruction and told me to appeal in a letter. What grounds can i use?, I can't let this lunacy win out! An ipod's life depends on it!
p.s: Guys PLEASE take a min to add a contact number or a full name on your Ipod if you have one, IF you lose it and a nice guy finds it, please makes their lives easier by giving them somehing to trace you with (ie. more than 'Chris')
Late july I was walking my dog on a country footpath in the early evening and saw something glistening in the long grass....picked it up and it was an ipod nano!!! It was slightly wet, but working perfectly so i put it in my pocket, went to the car and hastily put up a sign at the footpath entrance saying 'mp3 player found', and my contact details.
As i am an ipod owner anyway i took it home and went about searching for the owners details. Checked in addresses....no address. telephone numbers.....no numbers. However a look at settings showed me it belonged to 'Chris'. then looking at the music chris was really into heavy metal ( slipknot, iron maiden).
Annoyingly the only scrap of info was this 'Chris'
BUT I remembered that each ipod has a serial number. So i phoned Apple (and waited a few minutes on their no doubt premium care number) and said ''I found an ipod Nano' if i give you the serial number can you see if you have anyone registered to it. If you do please contact them and give them my number and tell them i've found it and want to give it back'.
Normally apple don't do this, but the nice operator lady saw it was special case and said she'd give it a try.......She phoned me back an hour later and said they had a number on record, but the number was 'dead' (don't know what she meant by that, her words).
Next day, still no call from the sign i put up outside the footpath. SO i did what we're told to do since we were at primary school, if you can't locate the owner hand it into the police!
Went to the police station, chatted to the copper. Told him where we found it, and that all we could ascertain was 'Chris' and the fact he liked heavy metal music. he then gave us the green lost property slip, which we filled out. and gave us the classic police spiel about 6 weeks for owner to contact, then after that if there was no claim we could claim it as being ours.
Today (7 weeks later)
went to the police station, as no one had called in for the Ipod. ''Sorry we can't let you have it, as it's an electronic device we can't let you take it for confidentiality purposes as it may contain personal information. i'm afraid it will have to be destroyed :eek:''
I said quite quickly, ''oh don't worry it doesn't have any personal info on there....in fact i wish it did, as i was looking for ages to find a hint of an address or contact number so i could give it back''.
The guy looked a bit embarrassed and said 'i'm sorry sir, but i can give you the number of a superior'. We called her, she then said the same thing, and i gave the same answer.
She then said 'yes but, we know from previous police experiences that criminals can use advanced software to try and extract personal information embedded in the coding of machines, that may not be apparent'. I then replied that I had the Ipod in my posession for 48 hours before I handed it in and that IF I was one of the 0.1% criminally inclined hackers in the UK, that would do that, I would have done it when I had it''.
Then seeing as there was no logical argument, she kept repeating the classic fall back 'it's policy' line. But said I can send a letter outlines my protests to a arbitration officer who will weigh up the situation blah blah blah blah.....more time, more effort'.
I'm just very upset by this. I have done the right thing, I have made the effort to reunite a valuable gadget to it's owner....and after going through the correct way (which you're always taught to do).....The police are now gonna toss a perfectly good ipod into an incinerator/crusher (on a side note, hardly the most ecological use), as policy, on the basis I may be some superhacker who is looking to bleed it dry for criminal doings. Even though there is no personal data on there, and 99.9% of the population aren't criminally inclined computer hackers.
It's bureaucracy and a 'worst case scenario' logic triumphing over honest 'common sense'. I do the good, honest citizen thing (spend minutes on hold to a premium apple mac care line, do a 20 minute detour to the police station) and it's insinuated that I can't have it as I may be looking to illegally exploit it......thanks Thames Valley Police.
What Can i do???? The policeman NEVER said that it was going to be destroyed if unclaimed when I hand it in.AND the lost property slip doesn't state that either.
What upsets me most though is that it's even again another nail in the coffin of honesty. If I find another IPod, I'll still look to see if there are contact details, i'll still do the hasty sign......but you know I'm not going to go the extra mile anymore, nothing personal.....it's thames valley police's fault. I'm out of pocket too, I've wasted hours, money and fuel trying to solve this....when i didn't have too
I feel I must apologize to that Ipod, I feel that by being honest I've given it the death sentence.
HOWEVER the lady i spoke to put a note on it to halt it's destruction and told me to appeal in a letter. What grounds can i use?, I can't let this lunacy win out! An ipod's life depends on it!
p.s: Guys PLEASE take a min to add a contact number or a full name on your Ipod if you have one, IF you lose it and a nice guy finds it, please makes their lives easier by giving them somehing to trace you with (ie. more than 'Chris')
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Comments
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No good deed goes unpunished.0
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Oh come on. Phoning Apple to get detials from serial numbers. This all sounds a bit fishy. If you want to keep an I-pod you found then good on you but you don't need to start making up stories to make the police look bad.0
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Oh come on. Phoning Apple to get detials from serial numbers. This all sounds a bit fishy. If you want to keep an I-pod you found then good on you but you don't need to start making up stories to make the police look bad.
Nonsense! everything is true.
With Apple I phoned them up and gave them the serial number so THEY could contact whoever it was registered to and give them my number. I didn't ask for them to give me the address (they wouldn't allow it anyway).0 -
Oh you got burned!0
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Sounds like the WPC wants it for herself!The man without a signature.0
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Sorry but can't see you really have a complaint. You found an item which didn't belong to you so you did the correct thing and handed it into the police, however it was 48 hours later. It may be that the loser of the item contacted the police the same day looking for it but they didn't have it as you were off doing sleuth work trying to find the owner.
The police policy is that they can't hand back electronic equipment incase it contains personal information. A very sensible policy I would suggest. Lets say it was the other way round and you have left your laptop on a train. Its found and handed into the police. You don't claim it and its given to the finder, who having no need for it sells it to a shop. Its then bought by someone who is able to extract your personal information from the laptop and use it for unlawful practices. Just how happy would you be with the police for giving your personal information to a complete stranger. The police don't have the time to go searching through hard drives to ensure they don't contain personal information prior to handing out lost property.
Sorry while I can have some sympathy for your story I don't support it.0 -
The opposite can happen too!
My parents found a wallet with £200 in cash outside their front gate. This was just before Christmas so obviously someones spending money for presents. As there were no contact details inside the wallet they took it straight to the Police station, filled in all the forms which included their names, address and phone number.
Six/seven weeks later they went back and asked what had happened. The Police told them that the wallet had been claimed the same day. The people who had lost it didn't even make the slightest effort to say thanks to my parents, just took it and carried on.
Needless to say my parents will not be taking any further wallets to the Police!Pants0 -
The opposite can happen too!
My parents found a wallet with £200 in cash outside their front gate. This was just before Christmas so obviously someones spending money for presents. As there were no contact details inside the wallet they took it straight to the Police station, filled in all the forms which included their names, address and phone number.
Six/seven weeks later they went back and asked what had happened. The Police told them that the wallet had been claimed the same day. The people who had lost it didn't even make the slightest effort to say thanks to my parents, just took it and carried on.
Needless to say my parents will not be taking any further wallets to the Police!
So your parents are thiefs? Okay. Cool.0 -
dinglebert wrote: »Sorry but can't see you really have a complaint. You found an item which didn't belong to you so you did the correct thing and handed it into the police, however it was 48 hours later. It may be that the loser of the item contacted the police the same day looking for it but they didn't have it as you were off doing sleuth work trying to find the owner.
The police policy is that they can't hand back electronic equipment incase it contains personal information. A very sensible policy I would suggest. Lets say it was the other way round and you have left your laptop on a train. Its found and handed into the police. You don't claim it and its given to the finder, who having no need for it sells it to a shop. Its then bought by someone who is able to extract your personal information from the laptop and use it for unlawful practices. Just how happy would you be with the police for giving your personal information to a complete stranger. The police don't have the time to go searching through hard drives to ensure they don't contain personal information prior to handing out lost property.
Sorry while I can have some sympathy for your story I don't support it.
I always appreciate an eloquent post.
Don't forget though I left a sign with my contact details where I found it so if the person had returned to where they left it, they would have seen that whilst I was sleuthing.
The laptop analogy is tenuois, a laptop is a 350-1000 pound machine inherently full of personal data....an ipod is basically a 100 quid jukebox. Yes you can have the odd address, number on there (there were none as i mentionned above). Also inkeeoing with the law, my right to claim that it is now my property is perfectly valid (police lost property guidelines say that after 6 weeks of submission the finder can become the keeper).0 -
This protection of data thing is a bit strange with something like a laptop (doesn't automatically apply to something like an ipod).
The police can take the hard drive out and hit it with a hammer and give you the rest of the laptop - there is no necessity to destroy the rest of the device (if it is worth keeping).
Finder can then purchase a new hard drive and go on their way with a working laptop.
common sense and the law doesn't exactly go hand in hand.0
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