By Rowan Behm
The Scene staff
Have you ever wondered what happens if you lose an item on campus?
If someone turns something in, it will end up in a gray double-door metal cabinet in Forest Park’s Campus Police office.
Police receive about one lost and-found item every day during fall and spring semesters, according to Lt. David Berryman, campus commander. Fewer items are turned in during the summer.
“Right now, we probably have about 20 unacclaimed items inside the cabinet as we speak,” Berryman said last week.
The most common items are keys, wallets, earbuds and clothing. Occasionally, people will turn in more expensive items, such as jewelry or cash.
“Very seldom do we get items of value,” Berryman said. “If we do, we’ll store those in a locked safe. They won’t go into the actual everyday lost-and-found cabinet.”
The Scene asked to view and take photos of lost-and-found items, but Berryman declined. He said someone might see them and try to falsely claim them as their own.
Because of limited space in the cabinet, police periodically clear it out.
“If items have been in there longer than a year, they will be destroyed,” Berryman said.
But that doesn’t apply to more valuable items in the locked safe. They are kept “indefinitely.”
Students, faculty and staff who find items should take them to the Campus Police office, which is in Room E-021.
“A lot of times, people will just take an item to the circulation desk, which is fine,” Berryman said. “As long as it gets to some campus office, someone can then, in turn, call us to come pick the items up.”
If you have lost an item, contact Campus Police at 314- 539-5999 to ask if anyone has turned it in. If they have, you can go to the office to claim them.