LITTLE ROCK — When cash in the Little Rock Police Department property room goes unclaimed, the money goes to the city’s general fund. That can sometimes be a tidy little windfall for the city.
There is one sum of unclaimed cash in the room, though, that won’t exactly put the city on Easy Street.
Last April 23, when officer Tiffany Johnson went to the property room, she noticed a quarter that had been left in the entryway. Property room supervisor Carri Frederick said she advised Johnson to turn in the coin in case it was evidence or someone came back to claim it. So Johnson logged the quarter and turned it in. And it has been there ever since.
“If you find a quarter in the property room it could be evidence in a case,” department spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings said. “It’s probably not, but that’s why we take precautions.”
Hastings said police would not consider the tax dollars, paperwork and time it takes to turn in something as small as a quarter.
“We would consider what criminal may be found not guilty [because of missing evidence],” Hastings said, noting that if the quarter had been found almost anywhere besides the property room, police would not have taken the time to log it in.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/28/2011