By JESSE GRAHAM
HEALESVILLE’s police officers are reminding residents that missing phones do turn up – and that they may be waiting for their owners at a local station.
Healesville police Senior Constable Kirsty Swankie told the Mail that police stations were often inundated with phones being handed in by members of the public.
The only problem is, due to phone security measures, police often cannot access any of the information inside the phone to contact the owner, meaning the devices gather dust on their shelves.
“We do get quite a lot – we’ve had five handed in this month,” Sen Const Swankie said.
She said that people often assumed a lost phone had been stolen and quickly organised a replacement, without calling around to local police stations to see if it had been handed in.
“They think ‘oh well, it’s gone’ and they lock their SIM cards so it’s safe and don’t worry about it,” Sen Const Swankie said.
“People don’t come looking for them.
“If you’ve lost your phone, come in and ask us about it, because it could very well be here.”
Leading Senior Constable, Chris Hickey, said that one measure residents could take was typing up a note that included the owner’s name and contact details, should the phone be found, then taking a photo and setting it as the phone’s lock-screen background.
This way, he said, anyone encountering a lost phone could contact the owner immediately.
While it may come at the cost of having a good-looking background for the phone, it could save phone owners considerable stress – and the hundreds of dollars it takes to replace a smartphone.
Anyone who may have lost a phone in the Healesville area can contact Healesville police on 5962 4422.
