This message is more about the theft issue.

To attempt to clarify a point, personal injury is a liability claim, totally
different from theft of tangible objects, which is a property claim.


I. Perhaps I missed something here, but given the description below in Mr.
Weeks response, this is how it looks to me:

As reported below, the teacher/injured party did not steal an object,  so in
that specific instance there was not a theft to report which would've then
caused the cancellation of the policy.

The teacher/injured party did injure him/herself on the museum premises,
leading to a personal injury claim, the payment of which ($14k) apparently
caused the insurance company to cancel  the policy.

(Or perhaps the combination of the personal injury payment combined with a
theft report caused the policy cancellation.)

"Slips and falls" (the type of incident described) are a huge concern in the
insurance industry. This particular incident also sounds rather fishy, as it
appears the injured party waited awhile to report either  the incident or
the injury.

Possible Remedy: Many insurance companies offer free or low cost services
from their risk control (loss control) departments. Their physical plant
experts will review your property and procedures as relates to human or life
safety, e.g. building areas with public access and employee work places, and
make recommendations for improvements.

If you are concerned that such a review might lead to a cancellation of a
policy or not getting the policy, try to work with a reputable broker who
specializes in insurance for museums/fine arts. As opposed to an agent, who
may only represent one insurance company, a broker will represent more than
one insurance company and can keep your interests in mind.

(Besides, would it be such a bad idea if such reports gave us ammunition to
present our administrators on why the museum should clean up its act?)


2. Agreed, absolutely. Theft of a replaceable or low market value object may
not be worth bothering about. Every museum has to make their own decision.
Installation of TV monitors sounds like an excellent idea, if the museum can
afford it.

If I sounded rather impassioned in my original response, here is my
commentary for those interested in the details behind my remarks (if not, of
course please skip on to the next Museum-L entry, and my apologies for the
length of this message so far).

None of us want their donors or lenders to think that their items are at
risk in one's museum, no matter what the setting. That's what makes this
such a knotty issue.

My original, extensive response was based on experiencing various thefts at
various museums during my career, including an oil on canvas being cut from
a frame because the frame was security bolted to the wall, another oil on
canvas (not security bolted) cut from its frame (probably after the frame
was removed from the wall), framed prints removed from walls - the frames
dismantled and the prints removed,  and an important 19th c.
telecommunications device found to be missing from storage.

Also, my response was based on observing what has happened in sister
institutions over the years, including: insider theft carried out over
months or years by trusted volunteers (some of whom were collectors), or by
trusted but impecunious employees (professional staff are not the only ones
suffering from low pay); as well as thefts carried out by incredibly stupid,
drunken people committing blatant thefts of the breaking & entering variety,
stealing reproductions as well as irreplaceable artifacts. Thieves are a
pretty ignorant lot, despite what Hollywood would have you believe. (They
are just bright enough to see opportunity where others haven't. )
Unfortunately, the damage done is just as great.

As individual artifacts or works of art, none of the above examples of
stolen objects were even remotely near a Van Gogh, etc. in market value. But
their uniqueness, rarity, or historical significance often did warrant
efforts to report the theft and attempt recovery.  The loss of the 19th c.
telecommunications device was not reported despite its irreplace-ability  as
it was impossible to prove it was stolen, and 15 yrs. ago I didn't know any
better anyway.

Also, 15 years ago, we didn't have the federal law we do now, which makes it
a federal crime to steal from a museum any object with a value of $5,000 or
more. A lot of art and a lot of historical, or scientific, or museum
material of any stripe does not have a market value of $5,000. But theft is
a problem worth paying attention to as it so common. I commend the museum
director in southern New Jersey for paying attention to this issue when it
would be easier to ignore it.

Nancy Powell

-----Original Message-----
From: Ross Weeks <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wednesday, August 30, 2000 4:55 PM
Subject: Re: Creating a policy for my historical museum in the areas of
deacessioning procedures and reporting thefts.


>Nevertheless, we shouldn't lose our common sense, should we?  Reporting
>theft to an insurance company can lead to cancellation of the insurance.
>Until recently, we had a find policy covering liability, and then a teacher
>stumbled, failed to report it to us, suffered injury or pain some months
>later, and our insurance company paid out $14 K and cancelled us.  I do not
>consider theft of pocketable objects, for which we have duplicates, the
same
>as theft of a major historical piece or a Van Gogh.
>Ross Weeks Jr.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Chris Godbold" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2000 4:11 PM
>Subject: Re: Creating a policy for my historical museum in the areas of
>deacessioning procedures and reporting thefts.
>
>
>> Hi all! I agree with Ms. Powell. It is important to report thefts to the
>> proper authorities. Furthermore, you could look to the AAM and ICOM codes
>of
>> ethics for guides on the creation of theft and deaccession policies. I
>> believe both codes contain sections about both of these subjects. You can
>> get copies of them from each organization.
>>
>> Chris Godbold
>>
>>
>> >From: Gloucester County Historical Society <[log in to unmask]>
>> >Reply-To: Museum discussion list <[log in to unmask]>
>> >To: [log in to unmask]
>> >Subject: Creating a policy for my historical museum in the areas of
>> >      deacessioning procedures and reporting thefts.
>> >Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 15:13:57 -0400
>> >
>> >I am a museum director in southern New Jersey.  The collecting focus
>> >of my site is the material culture of the Delaware Valley.  I am
>> >wrestling with the creation of two policy statements.  First, how and
>> >when inappropriate objects should be deacessioned from my museum.
>> >Secondly, if my museum is the victim of a theft, my Board is wondering
>> >who we should report the artifact theft to, or whether it would be in
>> >our site's best interests not to report thefts at all.  Your response
>> >is appreciated - this is my first time using this service.
>> >
>>
>>
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