A LOT.
I read the heading and haven't read all the replies yet. However I do know laws vary from state to state and the POLICE MAKE their own laws. I have TWO major examples.
1. A gun in Michigan IF abandoned can be owned by the finder IF he is allowed to own a gun. I found a gun in a lake that was tossed in by the owner over 40 years ago. Michigan state law is clear. HOWEVER, the chief of police in that jurisdiction refused to give it back. He said the owner didn't want anyone to have it so it was going to be destroyed. I told him fine, then you are buying me a new gun. He asked what I meant. I told him we were going to court. I got the gun back, just before I hired a lawyer. It now works.
2. Another long story. I found WW1 practice bombs in a lake here. The first one I found I called 911. After three police agencies came out including the state police bomb squad, I was allowed to keep it after they put a big hole in it and broke the fins off the back. After finding 4 more and not having any paperwork, I decided to take one to the local police department and ask how to get paperwork saying they are harmless. LOL OOOPS. I didn't take it in the department. I asked for a Sgt and told him the story of the first one. He went to my truck with a rookie and saw them. Told me he didn't believe me and the whole area was sealed off and the state police bomb squad came out AGAIN. Luckily for me it was the same officer that came out the year before. You can google Port Huron bomb and get their story.
The chief of police told the state police Sgt he didn't want them in his city. The state police told him there was no law against me having them and I got it back. Really TICKED off the chief of police.
My advice and I was a cop for 9 years, is to KNOW the law in your state. DO NOT rely on the police. I heard of anther gun found in Michigan that was found and destroyed by a department supposedly. I don't know the whole story but he lost it before I told him the law.
Do I think cops really destroy guns? NO. Maybe dangerous ones but I really believe they are transferred to officers higher in the chain of command. Actually I know that but I can't tell the story because what I believe I know might be wrong, however I don't think so.
I have a HUGE trust issue. I have seen a lot. The only way you will protect yourself IF you want something back you trusted to the authorities, is to know the law yourself. Do not rely on ANY police department. They can conjure up great excuses not to return things that are NOT the law.
If you really don't want something back, turn it in and say goodbye to it. I did that to TWO live grenade fuses. If you want something for your collection, know the law and follow the law and make sure the police follow the law. I also got this gun and gun barrel back from the police. I found them in lakes also. The middle one is a 7 shot 22 derringer.
I can't even begin to count all the cash I have found in lakes. My largest take was 12 100.00 bills folded over and laying on the bottom. Did I turn them in? Not on your life. Cash is mine. And I find the owners myself for class rings. I don't rely on the police for anything.
Scuba, thanx for entering the discussion. Your input , as always, is much respected. And especially so in this one, since you were in law enforcement yourself for awhile!
odd-job and scuba: While there may be some corruption in law enforcement (heck, and in ANY field, since we're all only human): I would not go so far as to 'diss all cops and law officials as "thieves" . On the all, I trust them to do their job, and they have a hard job to do at that.
HOWEVER: in THIS particular arena, of whether or not they return lost items to you (if you turn them in for lost & found procedures), this has a different twist to it:
Because think of it: if you walk in to a police station, with a Rolex watch you found, here's the following elements at play in that desk-clerk's mind, when you hand it over to them:
a) It's not yours. You only "Found" it.
b) you're turning it in with the FULL REALIZATION that it may, in fact, be claimed (that's why you're there handing it to them afterall!)
c) a lot of stuff that gets turned in to the police as "found" never get re-claimed in the 90 days. Ie.: the persons do NOT show back up, inquiring "did it get claimed?".
So now put yourself in the shoes of that cop or clerk who was manning the desk that day: What's to stop you from calling your cousin Bob on the 89th day and saying : "Hey Bob, do you want a nice rolex watch ? Come down to the police station and describe a watch that looks like such & such, that you lost on such & such beach".
Now while that sounds dastardly, yet think of it: It was never your watch to begin with . You only "found" it. So how have you been harmed ? You turned it in with full expectation that you might not get it back (that it might be claimed). And the cops have no obligation to tell you who claimed it (privacy laws). So while that's , of course, not following the letter of the law for a cop that did that, yet I do not see that as the same as a shop-lifter, or someone stealing your Rolex at knife-point in a dark alley. Yes both are wrong, but in the case of the lost & found, the crossing of the line might seem a little more innocuous and harmless (ie.: no one's been harmed).
Obviously you or I would cry foul, since we wanted the Rolex we found detecting. But in the eyes of the cops and reality, it was never yours to begin with. Hence someone's conscience might cross that line a little easier, on the cop's part.
After 10 minutes, a curious on-looker comes up to you and says: "It's funny that you're combing this spot so hard. Because just 5 minutes before you got here, someone else was detecting here, and .... in this exact spot .... found something. Then let out a jubilent shout, while cupping their hands around something they were studying hard. Then swiftly put it in his apron and left. "
