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How Many Cops Can You Get To A Cache?


Tequila

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Cool things happen when you key in the wrong coordinates.

 

Out on a cache run with Brook22 and we had keyed in one digit incorrectly. Unfortunately,this brought us to a great hiding place in Soper Park in Bowmanville. So we checked both sides of a very fast river.

 

In searching B22 found something that looked pretty interesting. A hand grenade.

 

Wow. I thought we got fast response when we found a drunk driver on the railway tracks in Markham two years ago. That was nothing in comparison to when you call in a "bomb".

 

In 5 minutes, we had the first responder, followed very quickly by three more units, two K9 units and the bomb squad.

 

The "grenade" (see photo) looked completely realistic except that it was black and the outer shell was plastic. The pin was missing but it was quite heavy. Best guess is that it was a deployed paintball grenade (if this is the case, they should be outlawed. They look completely identical to a real grenade).

 

Here is a pic of the grenade:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...e6-7eb328aa505d

 

No dead guy yet JP but just as exciting. And if it had been real, it could have been two dead cachers.

 

BTW, 911 is not capable of finding you easily with lat/long.

Edited by Tequila
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..(snip)...

BTW, 911 is not capable of finding you easily with lat/long.

 

You have to remember that the 911 operator in Ontario is sitting in a glass booth in Sudbury. He/she has no clue what you are describing, or where you are describing. It seems odd, since the not so recent advent of gps enabled cell phones, that they haven't upgraded the system. :anitongue:

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It seems odd, since the not so recent advent of gps enabled cell phones, that they haven't upgraded the system. :anitongue:

 

I have a Treo 650. It is not GPS enabled. She did have my phone number.

 

The lat/long would have been nice because I was in the park and didn't know the street names. I had to leave my caching partner with the "grenade" while I walked out to the car and used a street address.

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Let me see if I got this correct

 

1) You found hand grenade ;)

2) You thought it was real enough to call in police and bomb squad, then

3) You took pics after calling bomb squad but before they arrived, or :anitongue:

4) You took pics of grenade before calling bomb squad, or :)

5) Bomb squad arrives and waits for you to finish taken your memento pics, or :D

6) Bomb squad arrives and then leaves grenade with you and you take pics of grenada ;)

 

Where is the step where you and the lady get the heck out of there? :anitongue:

 

BTW this could have been a real cool 5.5 terrain rating for the THE 82 cache

 

PS glad no one was hurt :lol:

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Let me see if I got this correct

 

1) You found hand grenade ;)

2) You thought it was real enough to call in police and bomb squad, then

3) You took pics after calling bomb squad but before they arrived, or :anitongue:

4) You took pics of grenade before calling bomb squad, or :)

5) Bomb squad arrives and waits for you to finish taken your memento pics, or :D

6) Bomb squad arrives and then leaves grenade with you and you take pics of grenada ;)

 

Where is the step where you and the lady get the heck out of there? :anitongue:

 

BTW this could have been a real cool 5.5 terrain rating for the THE 82 cache

 

PS glad no one was hurt :lol:

 

LOL. None of the above.

 

I actually was pretty sure it was not real. But I wasn't about to "throw" it in a garbage can with my finger prints on it just in case. In a post 9/11 world, it is better to be safe than sure. After looking at it the police were also confident that it was a fake. The sergeant actually left to check with a local paint ball store to see what their grenades look like. That is when I took the pic. They did say it was the right thing to do, calling it in.

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I agree if in doubt, call...

 

In this day of stupidity, who know who will put what inside any kind of package to hurt someone.

 

Although anyone with experience tossing grenades would know we do not use anything like that, not have I seen anything similar - kinda like the old US "pineapple"

 

Cool story though.... Maybe we should have a category for strange finds, grenade - check

 

 

Let me see if I got this correct

 

1) You found hand grenade :D

2) You thought it was real enough to call in police and bomb squad, then

3) You took pics after calling bomb squad but before they arrived, or :lol:

4) You took pics of grenade before calling bomb squad, or :D

5) Bomb squad arrives and waits for you to finish taken your memento pics, or :P

6) Bomb squad arrives and then leaves grenade with you and you take pics of grenada :D

 

Where is the step where you and the lady get the heck out of there? :lol:

 

BTW this could have been a real cool 5.5 terrain rating for the THE 82 cache

 

PS glad no one was hurt :D

 

LOL. None of the above.

 

I actually was pretty sure it was not real. But I wasn't about to "throw" it in a garbage can with my finger prints on it just in case. In a post 9/11 world, it is better to be safe than sure. After looking at it the police were also confident that it was a fake. The sergeant actually left to check with a local paint ball store to see what their grenades look like. That is when I took the pic. They did say it was the right thing to do, calling it in.

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I agree if in doubt, call...

 

In this day of stupidity, who know who will put what inside any kind of package to hurt someone.

 

Although anyone with experience tossing grenades would know we do not use anything like that, not have I seen anything similar - kinda like the old US "pineapple"

 

Cool story though.... Maybe we should have a category for strange finds, grenade - check

 

To be honest the grenade looks very similar to one used by the US for riot control.

 

A good rule of thumb for stuff like this is to note its location, walk away, phone the police, give them a point of contact and brief them when they arrive. Do not approach the item again until such time as the EOD guys ask you to accompany them to the item. The police will call in the miltary for recovery if it is in fact ammunition.

 

There are plenty of legacy items like this still circulating around, some are still live. This stuff has been designed for one purpose; to maim or kill. If you don't know what it is and it functions as deisgned guess what!!!

 

For safety sake, and from a professional standpoint, leave well enough alone if you happen to find anything like this, please. Don't assume it's not real.

 

Oh yeah, take what I say as gospel; I sneak up on grenades for a living.

Edited by 2happy2gether
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A friend of mine is on the FBI Bomb Squad and here is his response:

 

"The problem with the fake grenades and the ones marked for training are that anyone with a little mechanical skill can alter or improvise them to make them dangerous."

 

This thing had lots of metal inside it. Even a small amount of explosive etc. inside that would do a lot of damage.

 

Another "friend" found it curious the police didn't send the dog to it first.

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A friend of mine is on the FBI Bomb Squad and here is his response:

 

"The problem with the fake grenades and the ones marked for training are that anyone with a little mechanical skill can alter or improvise them to make them dangerous."

 

This thing had lots of metal inside it. Even a small amount of explosive etc. inside that would do a lot of damage.

 

Another "friend" found it curious the police didn't send the dog to it first.

 

Your FBI friend is right. Let the other friend know that they didn't send the dog because dogs are police officers, they would have sent a robot. You discovered it and walked up to it, therefore it's a find. If it's found it's ok to make a "looksee" approach.

 

I am sitting here bored and thinking and I came up with something else. It's a bad idea to take photos of suspected ammunition. Here's why...a lot of these things have fuses that may become sensitive over time, or may be light sensitive to begin with. A photo flash, casting a shadow, or ground vibration may just be enough to set it off.

 

It's not just Geocachers that need to be educated, everyone is in the same boat. Situations like this are a good opportunity to let folks know what is right and what is wrong when they find something they think might be ammunition.

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Ancaster powercenter had a bit of a scare today when a cosco employee called in a reported cylindrical package with a wire hanging out of it in a tree. Has anyone ever seen anything like that before? :lol:

 

http://www.900chml.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLo...aspx?ID=1003929

 

Check out the story!

 

Yeah, I have now archived the cache as the Bomb Squad has disposed of it for me.

Had a nice email conversation with a PC & Staff Sgt. from the area, and all is good. Lesson learned, will heed their words wisely for future placements!

 

If you go to the Hamilton Spectator website, there are two articles about this situation. Links below for those unsure of google!

 

http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/352468

 

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/352810

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Let the other friend know that they didn't send the dog because dogs are police officers, they would have sent a robot. You discovered it and walked up to it, therefore it's a find. If it's found it's ok to make a "looksee" approach.

 

 

That is not the reason because the officers walked up to it. And a properly trained Explosives K9 would not touch it. They would do a passive indication such as sitting.

 

Morely likely, based on my description and the fact I had handled it, they were confident it was not "live".

 

Anyway, it made Durham's Blotter for yesterday.

 

C

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How many police in a unit? How am i supposed to tell if I beat you or not?

 

You probably actually got more police then I did to the scene. I would estimate that I probably only got 5 gumshoes, 2 detectives, 2 paramedics and about 7 firemen to my "big find". Guess they figured I wasn't that much of a threat :lol:

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How many police in a unit? How am i supposed to tell if I beat you or not?

 

You probably actually got more police then I did to the scene. I would estimate that I probably only got 5 gumshoes, 2 detectives, 2 paramedics and about 7 firemen to my "big find". Guess they figured I wasn't that much of a threat :lol:

 

A "unit" is a vehicle.

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Let the other friend know that they didn't send the dog because dogs are police officers, they would have sent a robot. You discovered it and walked up to it, therefore it's a find. If it's found it's ok to make a "looksee" approach.

 

 

That is not the reason because the officers walked up to it. And a properly trained Explosives K9 would not touch it. They would do a passive indication such as sitting.

 

Morely likely, based on my description and the fact I had handled it, they were confident it was not "live".

 

Anyway, it made Durham's Blotter for yesterday.

 

C

 

The police officers walked up to it because you walked up to it. A properly trained K9 is fantastic but when you're talking about decomposing explosives and wonky fusing, I'm not walking up to it and I do this for a living. The only, only reason they approached it is because you did first.

 

I don't think police dogs are considered expendable and used for approaching known or suspected IED or UXO. Bomb dogs are used for detecting explosives only.

Edited by 2happy2gether
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.....A properly trained K9 is fantastic ........ I'm not walking up to it and I do this for a living. The only, only reason they approached it is because you did first.

 

 

Seems that a properly trained police/bomb dog is much better at this, and less expendable, than your well experienced geocacher.

 

I hope the police officer thanked you for going in first! ;)

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.....A properly trained K9 is fantastic ........ I'm not walking up to it and I do this for a living. The only, only reason they approached it is because you did first.

 

 

Seems that a properly trained police/bomb dog is much better at this, and less expendable, than your well experienced geocacher.

 

I hope the police officer thanked you for going in first! ;)

 

I'm not explaining myself on this subject anymore in these forums. I don't claim to know how to program computers and I'm not an accountant, I don't pretend to know what I'm talking about on any of these matters. What I do know is military ammunition and explosives. I have dealt with the public service on many matters like this and I DO KNOW what I'm talking about.

 

If you need me to explain myself do so in person.

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.....A properly trained K9 is fantastic ........ I'm not walking up to it and I do this for a living. The only, only reason they approached it is because you did first.

 

 

Seems that a properly trained police/bomb dog is much better at this, and less expendable, than your well experienced geocacher.

 

I hope the police officer thanked you for going in first! ;)

 

I'm not explaining myself on this subject anymore in these forums. I don't claim to know how to program computers and I'm not an accountant, I don't pretend to know what I'm talking about on any of these matters. What I do know is military ammunition and explosives. I have dealt with the public service on many matters like this and I DO KNOW what I'm talking about.

 

If you need me to explain myself do so in person.

 

Woooaaaa.... Take a valium and relax!

 

Wasn't being critical of you in any manner - Was just having some fun with the subject here.

 

Do respect your role and your expertise.

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