Police work generates tons of paperwork, and officers sometimes wonder whether all that time and effort is worthwhile. A recent news story about a stolen painting provides the answer: A long-forgotten police report filed in 1951 is helping investigators determine the owner.
The story involves a Virginia woman who paid $7 for a box of miscellaneous items at a flea market. A picture in the box turned out to be an original Renoir painting, Paysage Bordes de Seine, valued at more than $75,000. The woman (whose name has not been released) told the Huffington Post that she wanted to sell the painting and use part of her windfall to take her mother to the Louvre.
But with no paperwork to prove the painting was hers, the sale had to be delayed. Gradually some facts emerged. In 1927 the painting had been purchased by an art collector, Herbert May. It was passed on to his ex-wife, Saidie May, after their divorce.
Saidie had been a generous supporter of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Had she given them the painting? Officials at the Museum said no, but a Washington Post reporter went to the Museum library and found records showing she had loaned the painting in 1937.
So does the May family still own the painting? Baltimore police turned up an important clue: A 1951 police report reporting that the painting had been stolen from the Museum?s collection. Following up on that report, investigators found that an insurance company had paid the BMA $2,500 to cover the loss.
Experts say that the recovered painting probably belongs to insurance company, which very likely will negotiate its return to the Museum. The anonymous flea-market shopper probably will not take her trip to the Louvre. And a long-retired police officer, who says he doesn?t even remember the theft, has the satisfaction of knowing that his report may have helped a lost painting find its way home.
To Learn More:
www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-renoir-invest-20121101,0,350787.story
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/arts/bs-ae-renoir-invest-20121101,0,350787.story
Jean Reynolds, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of English at Polk State College, where she taught report writing and communication skills in the criminal justice program. She is the author of seven books, including Police Talk?(Pearson), co-written with the late Mary Mariani. Visit her website at?www.YourPoliceWrite.com?for free report writing resources. Go to?www.Amazon.com for a free preview of her book The Criminal Justice Report Writing Guide for Officers. Dr. Reynolds is the police report writing expert for Law Enforcement Today.
Source: http://lawenforcementtoday.com/2012/10/08/a-missing-painting-is-recovered-who%E2%80%99s-the-owner/
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