Found a purse

Quite a while back I found a purse in what had £70 cash and a few credit cards , in the road I had found the purse I knocked on a few doors to see if anyone knew of the name on the credit cards , no luck , so I handed the purse to Hornsey rd police station , i ask the duty policeman will they phone the bank of the lady credit card and trace her to return her cards and money , police officer said no , if the owner doesn't come into the police station and collect her purse within 4 weeks , she will lose her purse for good , and me the founder can claim the money. I told the police officer It's pretty disgusting all the police have to do is make one phone call to the bank , give them her name and bank number on the cards , then your have the rightful owner address, and if your police station haven't the resources to send a police officer to her address, then post her a letter , the cost postage stamp. The reply was it's how we deal with lost property .

Re: Found a purse

That's pretty shameful and ridiculous
Wouldn't take long to sort out either !

Re: Found a purse

We learn a lesson then, if we find anything, best try and trace the owner ourselves first.

Re: Found a purse

It doesn't sound a good service but with so much fraud around these days maybe that is how it has to be.

The only person who knows they have lost the purse is the owner and I guess it is up to them to contact the police and report it and ask if anything has been handed in.

When I was working the girls in my college house were forever
leaving purses/bags on trains, it would have been a full time job for one policeman to contact them.

Re: Found a purse

I was just wondering what happens if you lose your purse and go to a different police station to report it? Say if you were travelling and don't know where you lost it. If they just keep it and hope someone calls in and collects it, what are the chances of getting it back? I think I'd try and contact the owner direct now after reading this.

Re: Found a purse

The moral of the story is be more careful with your purse and don't carry lots of cash

Re: Found a purse

Handing it into the Bank named on the cards would be the next best thing ,the first thing i would do if i lost a purse with my cards in would phone the bank to cancel them .They could then tell her it had been handed in .

Re: Found a purse

Good points.

Re: Found a purse

I think I would have been more inclined to take it to the bank. Shameful that the police would not make any attempt to trace the owner given that they had so much information.

Re: Found a purse

My wife once found a purse outside the school where she worked. Inside it was a packet of white powder. She phoned the police who asked her to hand it in at the local cop shop. They said "It was unlikely that anyone would come in to claim it" !