Anyone Have Run-ins With The Police While Geocaching?

[Reesifert]

Just curious-anyone have a funny story about being looked at twice by local police while out caching?

[+mudsneaker]

there is a thread going about that here.

 

Personally I have had a couple so far. The day the Seahawks won their division we were out trying to grab a few caches before the game started. I didn't come to a complete stop at a stop sign (had to hurry dangit) so got pulled over. The WSP asked what the hurry was so we told him the truth. We are geocachers in a hurry before the game started. He laughed and told us he cached too! Asked if we had found such n such cache while handing my licence back. My girlfriend called him a Geocop. and all was good....

Edited April 16, 2006 by mudsneaker

[+DutchBoy]

Here is a link to my log where I had a run in with the police.

 

My run in with the police

[+CYBret]

We were discussing this at an event yesterday. I've been at this since 2002 and have over 1300 finds and have never been had a single incident with the police.

 

I'm starting to feel left out.

 

Bret

[bogleman]

I've had a few, no big deal. My most recent encounter

[+The Dellars]

Have had the police ask me what I was doing, while he took a break in a parking area. He didn't care. but have been told to leave a playground once while I was Metal Detecting. Said he was worried I might cause a kid to twist thier ankle from the holes I dug. Even when I showed him that I was just cutting the Sod, and replacing it, he said that he didnt want the trouble. So I left.

[vagabond]

This is the only one I've been stopped and questioned about.

 

California Saturday, December 17, 2005

vagabond found One at the Office (Traditional Cache)

 

I could have swore that I'd logged this one on the 3rd of Dec.when we were here for the Tamale festival in Indio, but I guess It slipped by. While we were signing the log that weekend A sheriff's patrol car pulled up and questioned me about what I was doing. So I explained to him about geocaching and it seemed to satisfy him. Thanks for the cache.

PS I think he was more interested in what was in the container.

The container was a pill bottle

 

I did one in a parking lot at Knotts Berry Farm where a sheriff was sitting, I went by and talked to him after finding the cache,and he was very disinterested in what I had been doing

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Arizona Imposter was one encounter we had with the police. It turned out well.

 

Not exactly the police, but one very nervous security guard at a water treatment facility at Home Run Country. The cache was on the back of a sign on the fence of the facility. The guard saw too many people hanging around that day, some of whom met fellow cachers at the cache and ended up staying to chat.

[hannieIII]

On the way to a cache, passed a red light, policeman appeared from behind tree and flagged me.

Didn't u see the red light ?

Sure

Why didn't u stop then ?

Never saw you.

[+Cracker in the Hat]

I do a fair amount of caching late at night (terrible work schedule ya know) and as such, we've had a few run ins with the local constabulatory.

Here is a log from one such occasion;

 

So, here we are, three friends on their way home from nabbing Coffin Rock, Cam 2004 and I decided to show JimInPotomac and Sherman T. Potter the geodetic disc that is close to those two... After we found the disc with little issue, we were on our way home when I realized that we would pass right by this cache that I had done earlier in the week. JimInPotomac had never done this one, and it was a great opportunity to put a pen in the cache (See my prior log). I handed my GPS to JimInPotomac and let him lead the way...This one can be a little dicey at night, and JimInPotomac had a light, Sherman and I left ours in the car for good planning. As we were signing the log, we noticed some lights in the distance. They were a litle brighter than normal, and it was pretty late...Hmmmm.... After a couple of minutes, we were approached (50 ft away) by one of the Park Polices' finest. he directed us out of the woods, cache still open and through the stickers and up to his cruiser. He wasn't familiar with geocaching, and wasn't too thrilled about seeing three idiots in the woods after midnight on a 6 degree evening (before windchill). We made our way up to the cruiser (parked right behind my car) and he proceeded to ask us for our identification. This was only a slight problem as Sherman and I couldn't find our wallets...It just keeps on getting better... He took our vitals and instructed us to wait in front of his cruiser while he checked 'wants and warrants' and the morgue for these three wanted idiots. after we froze for 20 minutes, he returned to us from his warm car and proceeded to laugh it off with us after someone at dispatch let him know that we were in fact only a little nuts, not quite larcenous, and certainly cold as all get out. We decided to leave the cache until the morning, as it was super cold and after standing still for a while waiting to be arrested, we were all chilled to the bone. FWIW, the person who signed the log directly before me (on the prior visit) was from the Park Police, so even they enjoy the caches here. The officer (sorry I missed his name) was quite cool given the circumstances, and certainly a badass for approaching three grown men (up for debate) in the woods after midnight with very little moonlight. All things considered, I wouldn't be surprised if he catches the geocaching bug as well.

 

All things considered, the three of us had a blast and we were back at it the next day.

 

-Cracker in the Hat

[ParentsofSAM]

We have had a few run ins with local LE. It has all been pleasant. Of the 3 times 2 of them were when we were out of town.

 

Once in Chattanooga TN we saw the same officer each of the 3 nights we went out caching. The first night he was a little weary about this activity but then by the 3rd night he just waved and drove on.

 

The other time in Lake City, FL someone must have called because 2 cop cars pulled up and blocked in our car. We had found the cache and had it sitting open on the ground next to the car. (It is always helpful when you actually find the cache when the cops are around) One of the officers had seen people doing this at a restaurant across the street, but the other officer had never heard of it before. So we educated him in geocaching. We rehide the cache and went on to the restaurant across the street.

[+RiverCacher]

I had a run-in with LE on my very first cache hunt.

 

Triffid had just turned me on to GC, and in December of 2001, I headed out to find my first cache (Sandusky Showdown in Lynchburg, Virginia- now archived), but I hadn't yet purchased a GPS. I got a feel for the general area by looking at a topo map, and I headed out...at night....in the rain.

 

The problem is that I've always had this cocky attitude that I am above certain rules because, well...just because. So, I headed out into this city park at night, even though it closes at dusk. Spent about an hour looking for the cache (with no luck, of course), and I started heading back out.

 

Then, I see headlights in the parking lot, and a flashlight coming my way. I flashed my light, and a huge voice said, "GET OUT OF THE PARK!" and I said, "okay." Then, he said it again, and I said, "That's what I'm trying to do!"...as I approached him, I could see that he was a police officer, and he was about to draw down on me.

 

Anyhow, I explained what I was doing (sort of)...I told him I was working on a compass course for my Scouts, and I was sorry for coming out at night, etc. etc. So, he let me go.

 

So that was my first (and only) run-in with the police while geocaching. The moral of the story is: Don't go in a city park at night!

[+DocDiTTo]

Only had 2 encounters so far, both of which were casual and friendly, although neither of the cops knew about caching. After a few minutes discussion (and in one case a license check) we were on our way.

[+ranger-rob]

Not counting the roadblocks where they checked everyones license, registration, and/or proof of insurance, I think we saw one at "Carrot Top was Here" (GCM98D). It's been awhile ago. Anyhow, the web page said it was a possibility and sure enough. We smiled and waved (GPS's in hand) and that was it. The patrol car continued on and so did we.

[+Woodbutcher68]

My only close encounter came when I was placing my second cache. I saw the car parked in the the area on a road that's not supposed to be used by cars. I quietly walked by the car, placed the cache and returned by the same route. Luckily, he was still asleep!

He woke up a few minutes later and drove by me.

Never wake a sleeping cop unless you have a donut for him.

[+jiminpotomac]

LOL- That was a fun time Cracker!

 

How about a couple of nights ago? Cracker and I are in a parking garage at night attempting to locate a micro cache. We've gone through all the levels and still can't find the bugger. We're on the top level trying to work through the clue and figure out what we're missing when we are approached by not one, not two, but at least three renta-cops! They were so cool, asking us what in the world we were doing. We explained that we were geocaching and were trying to solve a puzzle. They did their best to help us out with ideas, then wished us luck. LOL- I haven't had this many run-ins with the law since I was a teenager!

[+tdecell]

We were searching for a micro in downtown Chicago at night in the rain when we saw a policeman walking towards us, as we were trying to act like we weren't doing anything suspicious, he said without even slowing down as he walked past, "if you are looking for that thing, it's under the trash can". He was right....

[+Crimowls]

I've only had two instances while geocaching where a cop stopped me. The first was quite a while ago. My teammate and I were hunting a new cache near a bank and ran into a few of our buddies who were also looking. The four of us were looking for about a half hour when the local LEO pulled and asked what we were doing. Luckily, our buddies were prepared with lots of info on the geocaching website and 'game' as they explained it. The cop actually helped up find the cache, but only so he could see it and make sure it was removed. It was a good story to tell the family...

 

The second instance was only a few days ago while hunting in an unfamilar area. Saw the car parked and looked around anyhow. Just as I located the cache and turned around to sign the log the cop car had pulled up right behind me. It startled me at first but he was very friendly. He actually worked with a few local geocachers (including the hiders of the one I was hunting). Had a nice chat about the 'game' and went on my way.

[+ganlet]

Was going after "creekside in Carpinteria" and just as I was rehiding the cache police stopped me and asked what I was doing. I did the best I could describing it but they just gave me a blank look. Asked if I had any drugs then searched the cache and moved on.

[+gladeslvr & crew]

My son and I had just found a cache and had it opened up on the ground when a cop pulled up and asked what we were doing. I told him my usual "scavenger hunt" line. He said, "Oh, I thought you were homeless". !!!!!!!!! I'll admit that we weren't dressed in our Sunday bests, but c'mon..."homeless"?????

[Rayman]

I had a run-in with the US Border Patrol once. There's a cache along the Niagara River between Buffalo and Niagara Falls that I had previously visited, but I wanted to come back as there was supposed to be a geo-poker card in it. (Turns out the card had been taken earlier in the day.) The park closed at 9PM, and I came at around 8:40 knowing it would only take me a couple minutes to re-find the cache and get the card. So I pull in, and this large SUV parks directly behind me. I return to my truck and begin to pull away. Big SUV starts to follow, and puts on his blinky lights. He asked for my license and what I was doing over there, and I explained. He questioned about my GPS, how accurate it could get, etc. and thought the concept was pretty neat. Then he let me go on my way.

[Mach-1 & Redtail]

Recently I had a seasonal job as a Park Ranger for a city that shall remain nameless. I decided to pick up some trash on a lovely covered bridge near one of the parks that I managed when 2 police cruisers pulled up. Apparently someone driving by saw me and thought I was suspicious. Picture it... Here's me wearing a blaze orange bandana (its hunting season), a tan polyester shirt embroidered with "City of xxx Park Ranger", a shiny gold badge that says the same and a large green pickup truck near me that says "City of xxx parks & rec". These two fine officers ask for me ID, ask me who I was and what I was doing etc etc for several minutes. I even had to repeat myself a few times. Finally they were satisfied and we all drove away. A few minutes later I drive to my office (city hall) to pick up some gear and the officers show up there. They couldn't verify my ID since I was an out of state resident and had to ask me some more questions. After they drove away, I realized that there is a micro cache on that covered bridge. I can't imagine what the police would have done if I had been just caching. The badge, the shirt, the truck etc didn't seem to be enough proof. I did my best to make the entire city aware of Geocaching. I pity the next cacher who looks for that one!

 

Redtail

[+BadAndy]

Honest Officer....I didn't do it!

[+Lighteye]

Down this-away, we call an unplanned meeting with local law enforcement while caching a "blue-light special".

[+Blucruz]

Got pulled over Saturday by a deputy because someone saw me and my daugfhter walking out of the woods together and called the cops. Anyway the license plate the guy gave the sheriff came back to a pedifile so you can imagine that every cop in the county was looking for us.

I asked the deputy what I did because I saw him before he saw me and made sure I wasn't speeding or anything. He told me to shut up! I'll ask the questions....by this time I'm freaking out trying to figure out what I did.

I gave him my ID and he ran it and my plates again and everything came back ok. He explained the pedifile mixup and that the guy who reported us said we were acting suspicous. We got a good laugh out of it. I actually thanked him for doing a good job since I have a daughter and can relate.

We talked about caching for a few minutes and we went on our way.

[+frivlas]

In just over a year, we've had 4 police encounters. What we tell the cop is determined by my immediate impression of him when he first starts talking.

 

1) It was night and we had just replaced a micro in a lightrail parking lot when he pulled up next to us and asked what we were doing. At this point I showed him the sheaf of cache maps I'd printed out and honestly said we were looking at a map. End of questions.

 

2) We had finished a multi stage night cache and 6 of us decided to grab one at the other end of the park. So, 4 adults and two kids walked across the dark park, grabbed it and then chatted for a bit. Suddently we noticed a police car checking out our cars in the parking lot. He then turned off all of his lights and drove through the park on the sidewalk. At this point we headed for our cars where he stopped us and informed us that the park was closed at night. Luckily, he didn't ask our intentions (good thing we had the kids with us) at this point we moved our discussion to a local pizza place.

 

3) We went after a new cache behind a shopping center. It was dark and late, so we left the boys in the car while we took a quick look around. Hubby was off in the bushes looking when the cop cruised by. I walked back to our car and he came right up and caught me in his spotlight. He asked me what we were doing and I told him we were looking for something. He asked what. I asked if he had ever heard of geocaching. He had. He relaxed and asked if there was one there. He then grabbed his spotlight an proceeded to help us look. At the point that he suggested that I might want to climb up and check out something on top of one of the outbuilding that he thought might be it, we decided to thank him and call it a night. Turns out we got off lightly....the next several people got harrased by mall security and the cache was archived a few days later.

 

4) Imagine 3 car load of cachers for a total of 6 adults and 2 kids caching their way down to a cito event. We were just wrapping up one one one side of the freeway when a cop drive by giving us a long glance. Seeing us all hop in our cars, drive over to the overpass to the other side and all pile out again was a bit to much for him. He came over to see what we were doing. Boy did he get an education in geocaching including a handout from our local caching ambassador.

[+Mule Ears]

I was just about to climb a 12-foot-high noise-abatement wall alongside I-10 when a Tucson cop rolled up to tell me to move along. The odd thing about the encounter was that he was eating pistachio nuts by the handful out of a bag on the seat next to him. He'd cram a handful of nuts, shells and all, into his mouth and then spit out the shells. This made it very hard to understand what he was saying, and harder yet to take him seriously.

 

Had another encounter with a Border Patrol agent in a remote area in the Tumacacori Mountains near the Mexican border. We exchanged notes on gear, boots, desert hiking, etc. He was out alone, which I took to indicate that this was not a particularly busy area for BP. He laughed and said, "Good thing you're armed."

[+Mystery Ink]

.

 

4) Imagine 3 car load of cachers for a total of 6 adults and 2 kids caching their way down to a cito event. We were just wrapping up one one one side of the freeway when a cop drive by giving us a long glance. Seeing us all hop in our cars, drive over to the overpass to the other side and all pile out again was a bit to much for him. He came over to see what we were doing. Boy did he get an education in geocaching including a handout from our local caching ambassador.

LOL I remember that It felt like the Benny Hill show that day we kept giving the cop the run around good times.

[+The Herd]

We haven't had a run in with the police yet, though I strongly feel we should have a few times!

[+ClikSnap]

We were discussing this at an event yesterday. I've been at this since 2002 and have over 1300 finds and have never been had a single incident with the police.

 

I'm starting to feel left out.

 

Bret

 

Go hide a geocache on the lawn of the white house. I bet you'd get LOTS of attention then. lol

[+AKStafford]

The only run in I've had (so far) with local law enforcements was a good one. They were doing their best to shoo off a black bear that was between us and our truck. Fortunately we'd already found the cache. See the log here.

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

We had an encounter today. A cache at a sculpture garden located between a post office and a police department in a rich fancy area. The cop walked right past us without even looking at us. We had the cache in hand too lol.

[+Nikon-Guy]

Myself, personally, I've met up with the Police twice and I've only been at this since a couple of months ago. I think I'm due for another.

 

First one, it was 3:30am, and I saw this Micro that was placed earlier in the day. After decoding the waypoint, I set off down the street since it was close to home. (I couldn't sleep, I usually work overnights). This cache is on one of the city's busiest streets, so it's best to do it without the muggles. Got to the area and notice some footprints in the snow. So I whipped out my Scorpion Flashlight and started looking.

 

City worker truck drove by, I stopped, lit a cigarette and tried to act as less suspicious as possible. He drove off, I continued looking. City truck came back, stood there, still smoking away, he left, I resumed.

He came back, I stopped, he drove off, I continued.

 

After about 2 minutes a police car pulls up and asks what I'm doing on the street at this time of night. Told her that I couldn't sleep, working overnights and all, and was taking a walk.

 

She told me that they received a suspicious call of a person hanging around the outside of a Credit Union/Bank. I didn't even notice! She told me to keep moving along, so I left.

 

I finally find the cache a couple days later during early morning. It wasn't a micro, it was a NANO!

 

The second time was only a couple of weeks ago. Some fellow cachers and I were looking for this one cache, which we noticed was just 10 meters past a fence and a sign that says "Trespassers will be prosucuted to the fullest extent of the law". This of course didn't make us feel any better.

 

After about 15 minutes of talking, we decided to dash in and grab it. Turned out to be a 30 minute dash. Thing was practically buried under some rocks and it didn't help that it was 9PM.

 

We left the area as soon as possible. When we got back to the car, we sat there and reviewed out notes for the next cache, when I suddenly see a car pull up behind us and turn on it's lights. Turning our heads, we saw, it was a cop.

 

She asked us what we were doing in the area and we explained to her about Geocaching. She seemed to accept that as an answer. She took our ID (I guess to run for warrants and stuff). She came back and handed out licenses back to us and asked us again about Geocaching. We went into a more extreme detail of the sport.

 

She seemed to accept the answer, when she responded "You know, if you're going to do this at night, you might want to park somewhere other than private property."

 

We suddenly started looking around there area, looking for markers of Private Property, since we did park quite the distance from the cache. Then we suddenly saw it in the distance and hard to see in the dark, a highschool... DOH!

 

I'll admit it, the second time, we were at fault, so we just did what the nice officer told us and left the area.

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

Some fellow cachers and I were looking for this one cache, which we noticed was just 10 meters past a fence and a sign that says "Trespassers will be prosucuted to the fullest extent of the law". This of course didn't make us feel any better.

 

After about 15 minutes of talking, we decided to dash in and grab it.

 

That doesnt make cachers look good. Ive seen quite a few caches placed beyond "No Trespassing" signs.

[+briansnat]

We were discussing this at an event yesterday. I've been at this since 2002 and have over 1300 finds and have never been had a single incident with the police.

 

I'm starting to feel left out.

 

Bret

 

I was going to say that, but then I recalled one incident. I was out with a small group searching for Melvins Multiple Madness, one of NJ's more notorious caches. It was in a tidal marsh and we were stymied by an unfordable creek in our path. About a half mile away was the bridge where the Garden State Parkway crossed the creek, so we decided to use it. Now walking on the Garden State Parkway is highly illegal, so we made sure we were off the parkway as soon as we crossed the creek.

 

We were walking back into the marsh when a state trooper spotted us and called us over to the car. He asked us what were were doing there (Its not a place that humans would generally venture for fun) and we told him we were "exploring". He just warned us to keep off the parkway and left. Good thing he wasn't there moments earlier, or we would have been nailed for walking on the parkway. I understand there is a stiff fine.

[+nekom]

I just had my first run-in with the police recently, although I initiated it. On my way to a cache, I noticed a plastic bag full of garbage. Unfortunately, a common site in the woods around here, probably anywhere else as well. Coming back from the cache I noticed in that bag were some files. I looked around and there was everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you could want to know about some fellow. Photos, copies of driver's licence, social security number, criminal record, court dates, EVERYTHING. The documents were not well covered by the garbage bag, but barely wet so they couldn't have been there long.

 

Debated about what was the right thing to do, and we decided to grab the documents. Took them to the park's office, which was closed and empty. Then a county sheriff's car comes down the road, so I flag him down and explain what I found. He didn't ask me what we were doing up there (it is a public park, after all), but I mentioned that we found it while geocaching, and he said he was familiar with the sport. I gave him my phone# in case he had any further questions, and of course the lat/lon where we found it, and he thanked us for bringing it to his attention.

 

I don't know what ever came of it, or what crime, if any was committed, but it just was TOO fishy to leave it be. I think I did the right thing.

[+loonyalana]

Yeah I had a minor "run in" with the police while looking for Son of YAPIKA #3. See my log for more details. Wasn't bad at all. One of them even knew about Geocaching.

[+Kealia]

Just last night as a matter of fact!

 

5 cachers (one of which was me) had just walked out of a cemetery at 1:30AM (it was OK to be in there).

We were pulled over and questioned about why we were in there (had to be suspicious).

 

We were tired from all the night's fun and decided we didn't want to get into a long story about what caching was, etc. (in case he was interested and wanted to chat) so we told the truth:

 

"We were just poking around because we like old cemeteries". Ran the DL, let us go - no harm no foul. If we weren't so tired or anxious to get going we would have just told him about the game."

[+BamaHiker]

I haven't personally had a run in with the police, but a cacher at one of my micro's did. It was in a business incubation area that had multiple businesses inside. I recieved permission from a GPS store inside the building, but as a cacher was looking around outside one of the other store clerks asked him what he was doing. He attempted to explain but apparently confused the clerk. Needless to say, she called the police. It must have been a slow morning in the city because within minutes 4 cop cars arrived and started questioning the cacher .

 

The lesson...don't hide caches in areas where multiple businesses operate.

[+Icarii]

Last weekend we headed for a lake about 2 hours south of OKC. The next spring fling is going on there next month and we wanted to check out the area. But, of course we have to cahce on the way. Stopped in Pauls Valley to grab a couple. One was on a train in a park. We were all over that thing looking for it. I walk back to my car to get my flashlight when a undercover police car pulls up. He rolls down his windows and ask "Did you find that darn thing?". Turns out he has been trying to find the cache with no luck. He handed me his card ask if I would call him and let him know were it is if we found it. Well, we found it and I called and left him a message on were it was hidden.

 

Got check out a while back. Was trying to get this cache at a local lake that happened to be in a tree right next to the main road. I guess I looked suspicious because he drove by me, then turned around, drove by me, turned around, drove by me, then turned around and left. I grabbed the cache and got out of there.

 

Icarii

[+ventura_kids]

I Win again!

It's ALL about the numbers.

 

We've been stopped at gunpoint in Riverside.

We were stopped three times in one night in San Jose (different police).

We were stopped way out on a dirt road near Las Vegas.

We were stopped in the University parking lot.

We were stopped in Van Nuys.

We were stopped in Fresno.

We were stopped at a gas station.

...and yesterday we were stopped just to see what we were doing in those bushes.

 

that makes 8 times!

 

I win! What's the prize?

[+Woodbutcher68]

I Win again!

It's ALL about the numbers.

 

We've been stopped at gunpoint in Riverside.

We were stopped three times in one night in San Jose (different police).

We were stopped way out on a dirt road near Las Vegas.

We were stopped in the University parking lot.

We were stopped in Van Nuys.

We were stopped in Fresno.

We were stopped at a gas station.

...and yesterday we were stopped just to see what we were doing in those bushes.

 

that makes 8 times!

 

I win! What's the prize?

 

It was a "Get out of Jail Free" card but it looks like you already have one!

You must be very suspicious looking cacher.

Edited April 25, 2006 by Woodbutcher68

[+Night Stalker]

I have had 3 encounters with Police officers while caching and one more concerning a cache that I had placed.

 

1. I was caching in Omaha, NE when a police officer stopped me and wanted to know what I was doing. I have always believed that the truth will get you into less trouble so I explained that I was geocaching. It turned out that the cacher who had placed the cache had told the local officers about it because he advised me that he know where the cache was, but could not give me any clues for finding it. He did stand guard while I searched and managed to side track a group of teenagres who were getting to curious about what I was doing so I could find the cache.

 

2. I was caching with a large group of fellow cachers in the hills above Twin Falls, Idaho after a get together. It was dark and we had made a pilgrimage in our various vehicles to a caching site when we were stopped by an officer who thought we were going to a kegger. After explaining what we were doing the officer left telling us to be careful.

 

3. I was caching is a less then nice area outside of Houston TX when an officer stopped me to find out what I was doing there. I had just rehidden the cache so not only explained to him what I was going, but showed him the cache. It happened that there was one of the Jeep Travelbugs in the cache so I explained about the jeep contest. He seemed quite interested and wanted suggestions on a GPS. For all I know he is now a fellow cacher.

 

4. I had planted a cache in a vacant lot near my dentists office. Someone there thought that drugs were being stashed there with the increase in traffic so an officer investigated. When he found out what it was he left his business card in the cache and a note stating for us to have fun with our game.

 

I am glad to say that I have never to date had a negative encounter with any of the police officers that I have met while caching. Of course I haven't been planting any caches under bridges either.

 

[+ventura_kids]

I Win again!

It's ALL about the numbers.

 

We've been stopped at gunpoint in Riverside.

We were stopped three times in one night in San Jose (different police).

We were stopped way out on a dirt road near Las Vegas.

We were stopped in the University parking lot.

We were stopped in Van Nuys.

We were stopped in Fresno.

We were stopped at a gas station.

...and yesterday we were stopped just to see what we were doing in those bushes.

 

that makes 8 times!

 

I win! What's the prize?

 

It was a "Get out of Jail Free" card but it looks like you already have one!

You must be very suspicious looking cacher.

 

The time in San Jose was my favorite.

We had just departed a geocaching event downtown, and 5 of us wanted to grab the nearby multicache that was placed just for the event. It involved entering three city parks and getting numbers off of the plaques to figure the final cache location. It was 9 pm and the parks were Closed at dusk. We already had been chased out of the first two parks by other police officers, and we were just entering the third one.(yes we got the coords ) As we were just about to go in the front gates of the park, we spied another police cruiser approaching with his lights off. We hesitated and waited for him to approach.

 

The conversation went like this:

Officer: What are you kids doing out here at night?

Cachers: We are geocaching.

Officer: Huh?

Cachers: Our friends sent us to this park to find some numbers on that plaque over there (pointing).

Officer: Your friends sent you here at night?

Cachers: Yep.

Officer: You need to get new friends.

[+Clothahump]

SWMBO and I got pounced on by the Galveston PD as we were hunting our last cache of the day (Metal Mouth - GCRD01). It was dark and we were using flashlights. When he lit us up with the spotlight, it enabled us to find the cache!

 

(edited to fix spelling. Grrr...Mr. Preview is my friend, I must remember that!)

Edited April 25, 2006 by Clothahump

[+Team Hassnander]

Only one encounter with the police, he didn't care and told us not to break anything and then left.

Edited April 27, 2006 by Team Hassnander

[+wilde oscar]

I've never had a run-in but someone made a pretty funny DNF on one of my caches.

See September 17th post

[+Confucius' Cat]

I've never had a run-in but someone made a pretty funny DNF on one of my caches.

See September 17th post

That is wild!

Did you ever hear why the cop was hiding there?

[+wilde oscar]

I've never had a run-in but someone made a pretty funny DNF on one of my caches.

See September 17th post

That is wild!

Did you ever hear why the cop was hiding there?

 

Yes, the local police were training here. This is an urban environment and the cache is in one of the only wooded areas. Makes you wonder why they feel the need to train for surveillance in the woods.

[+G*Force]

We've been approached by cops twice. Once on a rural state highway, checking to see why we parked on the side of the road. The second time was in a wealthy Milwaukee northside neighborhood (doin' the Witches House). Both times, they were clueless about geocaching. Both times they accepted the explanation. What surprises me is that law enforcement agencies don't train their personnel to be aware of geocaching because it does put all of us in peculiar places at peculiar times.