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I Sljt Canadian statesman August 24,1994 by Laura J. Richards It's not exactly cold storage, but the Property Bureau for the Durham Region Police has many interesting items stored within it. Everything from baby car seats in the lost and found to beer bottles and homemade nanchuka sticks on the shelves holding evidence. On Wednesday morning, The Clarington Independent talked with the officer in charge of the bureau, Sergeant Archie MacKinnon about items in the lost and found, evidence, evidence, and prohibited weapons. "We have two divisions here," Sgt. MacKinnon stated for the record. Depot Contains Both Evidence And Missing Property "Lost and found, and evidence. "In the first, we have found that people will hand in everything from clothing, money and bicycles. "We get bikes by the hundreds," he noted. A glance from his office into the area where the bikes are stored confirms confirms that remark. Stands with bikes hanging from their front tires show a selection of new and extremely used bikes ranging from children to adult sizes. "We have a 90-day return policy on everything but perishable goods," Sgt. MacKinnon said. The perishable goods, unless needed as evidence, are donated to charity. If needed as evidence for a case, the department makes arrangements arrangements to keep it on ice. "Our first duty is to find the owner owner of an item. We look for any identifying identifying numbers to try to locate the owner." That is whv it is important for people to mark an identifying number number or mark on their personal and household items. For bicycle owners, the police department has stickers with identification identification numbers. The sergeant noted noted the stickers should be placed in a prominent location on bicycles. He called the hard-to-get-off stickers a type of insurance for bicycle owners. owners. Most items that are not claimed within a 90-day period are sold at the semi-annual police auction in Oshawa. The next auction will take place Saturday, Sept. 17. Sgt. MacKinnon pointed out that "fire arms and bicycles are not returned returned to the finder." On the other hand, items like wallets are checked on the police computer to see if a particular one has been reported missing. And that's the catch to getting property returned -- a person has to report it to their local police detachment. detachment. "We examine the wallet to look for any identification so it can be returned returned to its rightful owner." People Usually Get90 Days or More to Retrieve Their Lost Belonpinps Sgt. MacKinnon noted that while they usually give people 90 days to pick up items sometimes he waits longer. "I want people to know that once the 90-day period the item is not necessarily gone, we may still have it," he said. As for items picked up as evidence evidence at the scene of a crime, that is a bit of a different story. A new procedure is being tested which would allow stolen items like a television to be taken home by the owner. What happens is that an owner is photographed with the stoeln items. Sgt. MacKinnon said this way "saves a victim losing their property for a year or more waiting until a trial." It also allows more room for other other pieces of evidence, and with almost almost 500 police officers in Durham Region evidence comes in on daily basis, he stated. Evidence is "kept until the case has been dealt with or solved." At that point in the interview, Sgt. MacKinnon invited this report er on a guided tour of the properties facility. First stop was the lost and found rack. The long heavy-duty metal storage storage unit holding the found items stretched about 15 yards to the cement cement wall at the back of the facility. Going along the unit Sgt. MacKinnon MacKinnon pointed out numerous items including a tent, a child's car seat, a microwave oven, a flare gun, a couple pairs of boots, several portable/cellular portable/cellular phones, five or six fire extinguishers, paddles, several large red fuel containers and a child-sized battery operated jeep. "We picked that up in Bowman- ville," he said. "You would think people would notice something like that missing," he noted as he shook his head in disbelief disbelief that it was still at the facility. Picking up a portable phone, he noted his department has a good success rate in returning the phones to their owners. Indicating a personal-sized shopping shopping type cart filled with clothes Sgt. MacKinnon noted, "This probably probably belongs to a street person. "When this sort of thing comes in we usually check the jails and hospitals hospitals for the owners." jurn to page 11 PEOPLE LOSE THE STRANGEST THINGS -- Sometimes Sgt. Archie MacKinnon, head of the Property Bureau for the Durham Region Police, can't believe what people lose and don't try to recover. Among the items in the lost and found division of the property bureau are a tent, a child's car seat, a microwave oven, a flare gun, a couple of pairs of boots, several portable/cellular phones, and five or six fire extinguishers. Sgt. MacKinnon is shown with a child's car seat and behind him are a number of articles on the lost and found shelves at the Property Property Bureau located at the comer of Col. Sam Drive and Farewell Avenue in Oshawa. by Laura J. Richards Sixty-five farms and gardens gardens in the Ganaraska area will open their gates to visitors visitors this weekend. The second annual Ganaraska Ganaraska Countryside Adventure takes place Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28. "It shows what we are and what we do," said Elva Reid of Kendal, in describing the Ganaraska tour. Last year's event saw hundreds hundreds of people trooping down driveways of 65 farms, homes and churches to sec what was down a lane or two. "There were 1,500 who paid to go on the tour last year," said Kristin McCrea. "With good weather, I think we could double last year's numbers." Reid noted the adventure is not a highly-commercialized tour that invades the countryside. countryside. The tour is done under terms the rural community can handle. "We hope to be able to strengthen the connection between between the rural and urban communities, " Reid noted. The tour this year has a number of different attractions. attractions. There will be a quilt show inside a salt box bam built in the 1870's and a quilting quilting bee,too. The quilters will be from the Elizabethville Quilting Group. Guests can pause to examine examine some very old quilts and some new ones, or try their hand on stitching a small quilt. This year's tour has 23 new places for people to see, and more demonstrations. McCrea noted the new farms and places to visit will round out the selection. "Because there are so many different places, what they do see is of interest to them. There is enough selection selection to satisfy everyone," McCrea explained. Both organizers have been swamped with phone calls from people looking for information information on the tour since early this summer. "This year, more people understand the concept of a farm and garden tour. "There is a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for it. We even hear from locals who went on the tour last year who are saying they will ensure they will have company the weekend of the tour to showcase showcase the area," Reid explained. explained. "This is a nice way for a family to spend the last normal normal weekend of the summer," said Reid. "It's a great way to wrap-up the summer holiday with the kids." 'There is more food and more demonstrations this year," added McCrea. Among the new places will be a farm with Scottish Highland Highland cattle, a stud farm, a garlic garlic and gladioli grower, and a Morgan horse farm. Of course, those are only four out of 65 places to see. If starting out in Clarington at the Clarke Museum and Archives, Archives, there will be tickets being sold for the tour plus a number of demonstrations on each day of the tour. Turn to page 11