Liars.

Can you believe this?

This is a little rough to watch.

Remember, this is what the police chief said.

I was briefed by Central District staff and they have done the following:
1.) They have been proactive in educating people on proper storage of personal belonging on public spaces
2.) Some of the belongings referred to in the e-mail below had been there for several days as early as last week
3.) The neighborhood officer has made several attempts to determine who the property belong to even asking many of the homeless people in the area
4.) The property is also in close proximity to a waste receptacle
5.) The belongings were wet from last night’s rain and gave even more of an appearance that it had been abandoned

Chief Wray

I see nothing in his statement that says the items were trash, he said they were “abandoned” that is different.

So I asked why they weren’t required to follow the state law that says when a public official or employee finds property that is worth more than $25 on public property, they have to keep it for 90 days and post notices about where it is.

170.105  Chattels found by public officials, employees or agents.

(1) Notwithstanding ss. 170.07 and 170.08, if an official, employee or agent of the state or of a county, city, village or town finds $25 or more or any goods having a value of at least $25 while acting within the scope of his or her official duties, employment or agency, he or she shall transfer custody of the found money or goods to the agency in the city, village or town where the money or goods were found that is designated by the city, village or town governing body to receive found money or goods. That agency shall post a notice of the found money or goods in 2 public places in the city, village or town.

(2) If the owner of lost money or goods appears within 90 days after the notice is posted under sub. (1) and makes out his or her right to the found money or goods, he or she shall have restitution of the money or goods or the value of the money or goods upon paying all of the costs and charges on the money or goods. If no owner of lost money or goods appears within 90 days after the notice is posted under sub. (1), the found money or goods become the property of the state or county, city, village or town whose official, employee or agent found the lost money or goods.

Michael May reponded. Concluding the items were trash.

As to the bare legal question, as you know, materials that are trash are not subject to any of the statutes on lost or abandoned property. From the facts stated by Chief Wray, I take it that the officers involved concluded that the materials were being discarded or thrown away. If that is the case, then the cited statute, and related ones, do not apply.

Michael P. May

Would anyone have reasonably concluded this was trash? Well, its trash now. Untouchable for the most part, crushed in the garbage truck and covered in garbage, fuel or lighter fluid and who knows what. So yes, thanks to the city, it is now trash.

I’ve made two open records requests, haven’t heard a word back.

from: Brenda Konkel brendakonkel@gmail.com
to: Noble Wray ,
Carl Gloede ,
Michael May
date: Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 10:28 PM
subject: Open records request – video

This is a request for a copy of any video or surveillance video taken in the area of Veterans Plaza and the Veterans Museum on Wednesday, October 10th between the hours of 8 am and noon that shows Officer Jeff Pharo, the removal of property or “trash” from the area or any other video showing city staff contacting people in the area about the items there or removing items from the area on that date.

Thanks! Any questions let me know.

The second:

from: Brenda Konkel brendakonkel@gmail.com
to: Michael May ,
Maribeth Witzel-Behl
date: Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 10:36 PM
subject: Open records request – found property

Please send me a list of any personal property found on city property by city employees (please indicate the staff, department, date and location) between the dates of October 1, 2011 and October 12, 2012 that was subject to Wis. Stat 170.105 and a copy of the required notices as well as the location that the notices were posted. Please indicate if that property was recovered and how it was disposed of if it wasn’t recovered by the owner.

Thanks! Any questions let me know.

I expect that in the last year, the city has not saved any property found on public property. And I’m guessing we haven’t even designated a department to keep the property . . . well, except maybe the landfill.

Thanks to Craig and Ed for going with folks, documenting this incident and trying to help in this awful situation – and many thanks to Tami and her friends for helping people replace everything. If you want to help, contact Tami.