Business Booming at Police Department Lost & Found

Dozens of keys on rings, chains, and assorted other bulky, colorful devices designed to raise the keys' visibility dangle from the wall like metallic moss on a tree limb. Individual keys are sorted into small boxes in the partitioned trailer that serves as the UCSB Police Department's Lost and Found Office.

Stacks of books line the floor, and shelves dark with clothing, back packs, and clusters of small containers layer one end of the boxlike enclosure. Most of the remaining space is devoted to a desk with a computer, two chairs, a heavy-duty shredder, and a mobile contraption that turns out to be a camera for multiple small portraits, like what the DMV uses for drivers' licenses. The nondescript office behind the Police Department also processes fingerprinting and identification badges.

This is Jayne Heil's tiny domain, but do not underestimate the riches she safeguardsÑfor 90 days at leastÑor the joy she can bestow on the successful seeker. "I've had purses and backpacks come in here, and peoples' whole lives are in themÑmoney, credit cards, identification, birth certificates, everything," she said with a laugh.

"Endorsed payroll checks have been turned in here. Now why would anyone carry around an endorsed paycheck? Those could be cashed by anyone."

Apparently, the honesty of the person who discovered the paycheck is not as rare as cynicism would suggest. Heil, who has run the campus lost and found since 1999, reports that wallets are often turned in containing money, and sometimes cash is also entrusted to her. A dollar bill in an envelope marked "library" was spotted in a shelved container during a recent visit.

Among other valuables on her shelves are calculators, cellular phones, pagers, jewelryÑand, once, a laptop computer. "Most of this stuff, probably 95 percent, belongs to students," she said. "It's amazing what they don't look for, but then they may not even know I am here."

Lost and found is open only Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, usually in the afternoons, but the hours vary. It is best to call x3843 and check Heil's availability. She also works in the department's billing and records sections.

If the item has anything that might identify the owner, the Santa Ynez Valley resident follows up with a bloodhound's determination. "I love to get things back to people," she says.

Heil's system labels and tracks everything that flows through lost and found. The computer logs when an item comes in, where it was found and by whom, its description, and final disposition. After 90 days, the item is usually sent to Central Stores where surplus equipment and furniture as well as lost and found materials are sold on most Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. However, check with Jeff Goldmann, furniture supervisor, at x2732, to see if things are being sold on that day.

And what happens to unclaimed keys? Those that can be matched to university locks, usually on office or residence hall doors, are saved; the others are melted down by Facilities Management's lock shop, Heil said.