Rules Of Engagement? Muggle & Law

[+sgtmagic]

Rules Of Engagement? Muggle & Law

 

Hi I am new to Geocaches and would like to know if anyone has experience with Muggle, Police and other Geocachers.

 

Muggle says “What are you looking for?”

 

Police says “What are you doing here?”

 

How do we as Geocacher identify our self?

 

Thanks Geocacher,

 

Sgt. Magic

[+StarBrand]

Say, "Hello - I am Geocaching - Do you know what that is?" and then hand him one of Cybret's Geocacher-U Brochures.

 

http://www.geocacher-u.com/

 

http://www.geocacher-u.com/resources/brochure.html - actual brochre link

 

 

 

(edit to adit 2nd link)

Edited February 1, 2007 by StarBrand

[+2Wheel'in]

Say, "Hello - I am Geocaching - Do you know what that is?" and then hand him one of Cybret's Geocacher-U Brochures.

 

http://www.geocacher-u.com/

 

http://www.geocacher-u.com/resources/brochure.html - actual brochre link

 

(edit to adit 2nd link)

 

Excellent answer...more often than not you'll make a "convert"...other times they just scratch their

head and walk away

 

Bill

[+briansnat]

With the police its best to be honest. If its a regular citizen who is questioning you, it depends. Would the telling the person what you are doing compromise the cache and lead to its theft, or would it encourage the person to join you and become a geocacher himself, or something in between?

 

I guess you have to go with your gut feeling and hope it's correct. If the person seems angry, or confrontational, or unblalanced, or is a teen, you might want to make something up, while if its a mom or dad with children, it might be OK to admit what you are doing. Of course you could be wrong and that teen could be fascinated with the idea and become a geocacher himself and that mom might be horrified at the thought of strangers visiting her neighborhood and remove the cache.

 

So there is no correct answer, other than if in doubt, make something up.

[+Renegade Knight]

Rule 1. Don't get caught.

Rule 2. When caught, tell the truth. (StarBrand's method works well).

Rule 3. If the cache is compromised and likely to be stolen due to #2 take it with you and email the owner for instructions.

[+sgtmagic]

Great answers, Thanks Guys!

 

Sgt. Magic

[gridlox]

Say, "Hello - I am Geocaching - Do you know what that is?" and then hand him one of Cybret's Geocacher-U Brochures.

 

http://www.geocacher-u.com/

 

http://www.geocacher-u.com/resources/brochure.html - actual brochre link

 

(edit to adit 2nd link)

 

Great resouce! Make sure to keep several copies in your backpack.

 

In the case of a LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) don't just ram your hand down in your backpack to retrieve one of the brochures without telling them what your getting.

You may not get the reaction you want!

 

 

D-man

[+mamid]

i've got a laminated copy in my kit.

 

telling the truth, even to a muggle, is better than lying. trust me on that.

[+Bud]

Yep, this has been addressed a number of times, and always the same answer comes out: tell the truth.

 

Law enforcement has a highly tuned BS filter, and will know if you're lying anyway; that's how they're trained. Telling the truth will require explaining the sport in some cases, but in most cases it'll just get you waved on by. I've had my share of contact with officers, mostly while night caching, and have never had a problem by giving them the whole truth.

[+michigansnorkelers]

For a shorter, honest answer, I sometimes just tell them I'm on a treasure hunt or a scavenger hunt. Everyone knows what that means, and you're not lying (you're just not being specific). And this way, you don't risk setting up a long-established cash to be muggled.

 

If they show more interest, and I feel comfortable with them, I go into the geocaching indoctrination schpeel.

 

As for cops, I've never run into one yet, but agree that complete honesty is the way to go.

[Clan Riffster]

As a cop, I gotta agree with the "Honesty is the best policy" theory, and that is what I use to anyone in an authoritative role, be it cop, security, or land manager. Most muggles also get the truth. I keep a stack of those brochures in my truck, and one is always in my CamelBak. It has proven its worth many times over. The only exception to this rule, for me, is when I meet a muggle that gives off bad vibes. My stock answer to these folks is either, (if interrupted during the actual hunt), that I'm hunting survey markers, or that I'm bird watching. Both seem to turn off the average creepy muggles curiosity.

[John_Calvin]

As a cop, I gotta agree with the "Honesty is the best policy" theory, and that is what I use to anyone in an authoritative role, be it cop, security, or land manager. Most muggles also get the truth. I keep a stack of those brochures in my truck, and one is always in my CamelBak. It has proven its worth many times over. The only exception to this rule, for me, is when I meet a muggle that gives off bad vibes. My stock answer to these folks is either, (if interrupted during the actual hunt), that I'm hunting survey markers, or that I'm bird watching. Both seem to turn off the average creepy muggles curiosity.

 

Honesty is always the best, though I have not had an encounter while with the GPS, when I was into ham radio we would have fox hunts and walking around public places with a Yagi (directional antenna) and a radio would always garner some questions....

[+Driver Carries Cache]

When questioned, I have taken to referring to it as a "scavenger hunt". Using the words "treasure hunt" tend to lead people to believe you're looking for something valuable which may bring them back for a hunt of their own. Also while I agree that honesty is the best policy, the last time I was caught, the cache was already in my hand. The muggle who caught us was very interested about the GPSr, the cache, what was in it etc... but I waited for him to leave before I re-hid. I wouldn't reveal the location of a cache intentionally to anyone. The one exception to that being law enforcement.

 

Driver Carries Cache

[+Gecko1]

Sorry to dig up ancient history, but here is one of my old threads on the subject.

[saopaulo1@hotmail.com]

Tell the truth. I once got stopped by a park ranger in a park. The cache was hidden on the bank of the creek, It's illegal to go on the bank (actually the sign says stay on the path) Anyway I dont the truth and I got out of a 150 buck ticket.

 

I ignored the other cache that was placed in a similar spot about .4 miles away.