Gpsr Confused With Camera Phone

[+geognerd]

One of the muggle distraction techniques often mentioned here is pretending your GPSr is a cell phone. Well, here's my story about what happens when a muggle mistakes your GPSr for a cell phone when you're not pretending it's a phone. Not like I pretend my GPSr is a phone to begin with.

 

I was walking along a trail with my GPSr in hand. An eXplorist 400. There were muggles walking and jogging on the path as one would expect in a park in the morning. Like a normal cacher, I'd occasionally take a look at my receiver to check on my distance and direction with respect to the cache. Now I think I need to keep the thing hidden whenever muggles are around.

 

Got to the cache, signed the log, and was ready to put it back. But then I noticed a police car in the distance. With the cache's placement, I'd definitely attract the officer's attention. So I waited the officer out and took photos of the park with my digital camera in the meantime. Eventually they drove onto the street and got closer to where I was. I started walking back toward the cache's hiding spot and the officer approached me. I thought maybe someone got suspicious after seeing me retrieve the cache, and that I would need to do an explanation of geocaching to the officer. Instead, she told me the police received a call from a woman who said some guy was taking cell phone pictures of her!

 

My guess is the caller saw me using my GPSr and mistook it for a cameraphone. I guess some people aren't tech savvy. The officer asked if I was taking photos. I said "Yeah, with but with a regular camera." I showed her my camera, set my GPSr down on the ground (she didn't ask about it), and showed her my cell phone, which is just a phone. She ran my driver's license, saw I was clean, and let me go. The officer was quite nice, so the experience wasn't particularly harrowing.

 

Now does this look like a cameraphone to you? The data/power connector and the battery door screw kind of look like a lens, but not really. I guess I must've been holding the receiver at enough of an angle that this stuff was visible.

 

 

Frankly, I think my GPSr resembles a bar of soap more than it resembles a phone because of its size, shape, and color. Maybe I should get the Garmin 76 series that looks like a silver brick, or a 60 series with the big ol' antenna sticking out that says "GPS" on it.

[+Wandering Bears]

People are, and will continue to be stupid.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

So how did the pictures turn out?

[+cache_test_dummies]

It's ok to use a digital camera to take pictures of people in public areas, but using a cell phone camera to do the same thing is not allowed?

[+TotemLake]

Must've been a slow day.

[+thedeadpirate]

So when do we get to see the pics (we know what you were really up to)?

Edited July 30, 2006 by GeoBain

[+Txnurse97]

Well, you are quite an imposing and intimidating figure. I know I thought that when I met you last year at the event in IL.

[+Davispak]

Cel-phones have been banned in gym lockers, spas, and in some dressing room areas. mainly due to pervs taking naughty pics. Taking pics out in public no problem. No clue as to why someone would be calling police, except they are being busy bodies and can't stand anybody acting different.

[+welch]

It's ok to use a digital camera to take pictures of people in public areas, but using a cell phone camera to do the same thing is not allowed?

Thats kinda what I wondered. The best I can figure is a gps held waist high made some lady (jogger ?) think that geognerd was talking pictures of her 'back side'.

[+laughingcat]

One of the muggle distraction techniques often mentioned here is pretending your GPSr is a cell phone. Well, here's my story about what happens when a muggle mistakes your GPSr for a cell phone when you're not pretending it's a phone. Not like I pretend my GPSr is a phone to begin with.

 

 

there's been some bad stuff going on with people taking pics with cell phones hasn't there? and I guess she was just being very cautious. nice the officer was understanding. maybe they expect most of the time it's nothing but they have to check it out!

[+laughingcat]

One of the muggle distraction techniques often mentioned here is pretending your GPSr is a cell phone. Well, here's my story about what happens when a muggle mistakes your GPSr for a cell phone when you're not pretending it's a phone. Not like I pretend my GPSr is a phone to begin with.

 

 

there's been some bad stuff going on with people taking pics with cell phones hasn't there? and I guess she was just being very cautious. nice the officer was understanding. maybe they expect most of the time it's nothing but they have to check it out!

[+geognerd]

Well, you are quite an imposing and intimidating figure. I know I thought that when I met you last year at the event in IL.

Yeah, tall husky ethnic-looking guy with an electronic gizmo. You know I'm a good guy, local cachers familiar with me know I'm all right. But unfortunately, folks judge strangers by their appearance. I'm as guilty of it as anyone.

 

nice the officer was understanding. maybe they expect most of the time it's nothing but they have to check it out!

Exactly what the officer said. She apologized for taking up my time and said they have to check out this kind of stuff when someone calls it in.

 

Ce'st la vie.

[Lt32]

The police have a duty to act. Whenever somebody calls they have to go check it out no matter how trivial it sounds. They just can't say " Naw, that sounds stupid. I'm not going to that." But they may be thinking "Why am I going to this?" I have worked for a fire dept. for 21 years and have my share of calls that we shouldn't have been dispatched to. On the other hand I have been to calls that were called in as a general illness, we get there and the patient is in cardiac arrest. We never know for sure what the call is until we get there. The same goes for the police.

Edited July 30, 2006 by Lt32

[+baloo&bd]

Exactly what the officer said. She apologized for taking up my time and said they have to check out this kind of stuff when someone calls it in.

 

The question that begs to be asked is, what would she do about it? Even if you were taking the pictures, so what? No law broken.

 

Glad to see our tax dollars so hard at owrk.

[+Allen_L]

Just don't take a picture of the cop.

[+Woodbutcher68]

Just don't take a picture of the cop.

 

Especially when they're in a donut shop!

[+thegoldminer]

hahah. that is hillarious. But personally I don't think they have any right to "run you" if they have not established reasonable suspicion of a crime having been committed. (and even if you WERE taking pictures of someone, that isn't a crime anyways...the police take our picture at various intersections too...)

[gerboa]

Singapore Polic, See Logs

[+Tsmola]

wait a min, I was in DC a few weeks ago and I took tons of photos around the monuments, of course I got lots of other people in the photos as well, I'm sure I showed up in a few people's photos as well, regular cameras and crap phones (I refer to camera phones as crap phones because the cameras in camera phones are well,....crappy) Looks like everyone there was breaking the law!!!! *gasp*

 

anyway, now I find out I have a ton of illegal photos of people on my computer?! Why some of those rude tourists at DC walked right into the frame they were so desperate to be photographed!

 

sorry, I have to agree, that's really silly and there is nothing illegal about it.

 

lol honestly if that happened to me I'd be insulted and tell the police so. I own a 6.1 MP Nikon D50 digital SLR, why would I be taking blurry, half-mega-pixel photos of people with a camera phone that is of worse quality than a webcam, when the D50 would provide more professional results?

[+Tsmola]

Just don't take a picture of the cop.

 

whew....speaking of DC, thank god I didn't take THIS PHOTO with a camera phone!

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Just don't take a picture of the cop.

 

Especially when they're in a donut shop!

...or if they land their helicopter at Krispy Kreme

 

(yes, it actually happened in Albuquerque a few years ago and the officers were either fired or demoted)

[+DustyWalker]

People are, and will continue to be stupid.

What he said. Paranoid too.

[+Harry Dolphin]

The police have a duty to act. Whenever somebody calls they have to go check it out no matter how trivial it sounds. They just can't say " Naw, that sounds stupid. I'm not going to that." But they may be thinking "Why am I going to this?" I have worked for a fire dept. for 21 years and have my share of calls that we shouldn't have been dispatched to. On the other hand I have been to calls that were called in as a general illness, we get there and the patient is in cardiac arrest. We never know for sure what the call is until we get there. The same goes for the police.

 

I guess it all depends where you are. We were involved in an automobile accident on 5th Avenue, in front of the Guggenheim. We called the police to report the acident. And waited and waited and waited. An hour later, the people who hit us flagged down a passing police car. (Actually, they stepped in front of it...) Otherwise, we'd still be waiting.

[+WalruZ]

You have a right to take pictures of whatever you can see in or from a public place.