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Encounters with the Police


IBMer

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Last night was my very first attempt at Night-Time Geocaching. It was to recover a cache that would otherwise be impossible to retreive during the daytime due to heavy muggle activity. My geo-pal and I pulled up at about 9:30 and made a quick find of a cache hidden behind a movie theather.

 

We were back in our vehicle getting ready to leave when a City police car zipped up and pulled in behind us. It was a female cop and she came up and asked if I knew why she was there. I told her that I assumed that someone saw us walking around with a flashlight and called them.

 

I explained that were were Geocaching, and that geocaching is a hoby that involves finding caches hidden by other participants. That the GPS coordinates are logged on a web site for other hunters to go find. That the object was to sign the log and exchange token gifts. I showed her my GPS, and the Software on my Blackberry.

 

She still seemed a bit suspicious, so I showed her a GeoCoin that we picked up, pictures of the actual cache and handed her a business card that I made up. It's just my name, phone, email, and the words (I'd Rather be Geocaching) on the front. On the back, I have a short description of the hoby and how to get more information. I laminated these and keep a stack with me at all times to share with curious muggles. The Cop finally started warming up to us, and seemed curious about the hoby. She tried to explain that she was there to protect us from becoming victims and that we made easy targets out at night.

 

I really think that the business card helped out. It put me in a position where I was able to dismiss her and be on my way. I handed her the card, said here, you keep this, and if you would ever like to try it or need to reach me, just call and went on my way.

 

I'm just curious what the rest of you do when you are stopped? I don't plan to hunt at night much, but was wondering what works best for you all. I'd also like to suggest that others consider carrying such cards to hand out to people when they stop you. It might be a consistent way to deal with the situation.

 

IBMer

Edited by IBMer
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Last night was my very first attempt at Night-Time Geocaching.

 

I don't plan to hunt at night much, but was wondering what works best for you all.

 

 

About 65 % of all my caching is done at night with a higher find rate then during the day. Less muggles, closer parking.

 

As for the law and carring a card the few run ins have all been a Hi how are you going. No what are you doing. Do have a card somewhere that I stopped carrying some time ago.

 

But offering the truth straight up I believe is the best way to avoid trouble later.

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I have never been stopped by an officer, although I know many cachers here have been. They just explain about geocaching, show them the actual cache is some cases, etc. Some carry cards like you do to share with the inquiring muggles or officers.

 

Although here in Canada there is never the issue of carrying a gun.. thank goodness! (unless you are a bad guy but I don't think many of them geocache!)... it would be an offence to carry a concealed weapon! But that is a whole other conversation not meant for a geocaching forum!!!!!

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I am not a LEO. I am someone who's known a lot of LEOs of all shapes and sizes and have run into them while caching.

 

Smile, make eye contact, speak clearly, be friendly, keep a comfortable physical distance (unless the LEO shortens this distance). Let them control the situation. Be cooperative, upfront, and honest.

 

If you have a weapon on your person, make the announcement that you're laying it on the ground and stepping away from it. Follow the LEO's instructions because they're going to treat you discriminately and take over the situation at that point. Having this uphill climb is better than them getting visual confirmation of the gun while you're talking and not knowing if there's a motivation behind you not mentioning it.

 

Some LEOs will be nice, others will not be. They're kinda like people that way. But it's part of the job to be suspicious and not take everybody at their word. This is why it's important to remain calm, friendly and honest. Receive their questions and skepticism (and sarcasm) with understanding and patience.

 

With all that said, I HATE the questions, "Do you know why I'm here?" and "Do you know why I pulled you over?" There's no actual answer for this! The last time I was asked that was a Kentucky State Trooper. I said, "Because you thought I was pretty?" He smiled and said, "You were going so much over the speed limit I couldn't tell." I couldn't talk myself out of that ticket but I got the speed violation knocked down. So LEOs, stop asking those leading questions!

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No, the gun was put away and secured long before she arrived.... I've been licensed to carry for many years and know the rules and my rights in this state..... When she pulled up behind us, she only turned on flood lights and was very informal. She asked us if we were the ones walking around with flashlights..... My vehicle was one of many in the theater parking lot. For all she knew, we could have just exited the theater.

 

Had she put on her blue lights, asked for my license or done a formal stop, I would have disclosed to her that I have a CCW and a firearm in the vehicle.... Unfortunately, we live in a city where carrying personal protection is a fact of life..... But thanks for the lecture anyhow** .. Can we get back to the subject at hand.. Have you ever been stopped by Police, and what worked for you?

 

The ultimate goal of my post is to get a feel for how often this happens in consideration of possibly starting a campaign locally to inform the Police of our Hoby. I interact closely with the Fire and Police officials through my volunteer work. I'm thinking of drafting up some memo's to circulate in the various departments to educate the Police, Sheriff and Fire departments that we are out there, and aren't terrorists. I'd like to see a point where you can hand an officer a card and them knowing exactly what Geocaching is and why we are there....

 

** I removed my comment about Handguns as I'm sure people will focus on this instead of my original question.

Edited by IBMer
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One of my own caches is at the edge of a vacant lot. I pulled in to check it one evening about 8:30pm and before I even got out of the car I saw a police car pulling in. He turned on his lights and then walked over to my car. I opened the window, smiled nicely and explained that I had a geocache at the edge of the lot and asked if he knew what geocaching was. He said he'd heard the term, but "Please explain". I explained, he smiled and said he was only checking because sometimes there are cars in this lot and he likes to be sure they're not doing anything they shouldn't be. He also said he would now know in the future if he saw anyone rummaging around at the edge of the lot. After I left, I had one of those "Oh man, I should have..." moments. I should have offered to show him the cache. Oh well. A caching acquaintance of mine recently told me that you're not a true cacher until you have: 1. Gotten Poison Ivy while searching for a cache; 2. Lost blood to thorns; and 3. Been questioned by a cop. I've done 2 out of 3 now, but I don't get poison ivy.

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IBM'er, you really think that Raliegh,NC is a place that you really need to carry a weapon? You made it sound as if its a very dangerous place to live! I lived there for many years and just like very other city, it all depends upon where you go in the city that you might need a CW.

Anyway, so far I"ve not been stopped by a cop. Have met some really nice muggles on the trails and they've stopped and talked about what I am doing. Guess my time is comine!

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I'm just curious what the rest of you do when you are stopped? I don't plan to hunt at night much, but was wondering what works best for you all.

When I am stopped, I immediately ask, “Am I being detained?” Everything hinges on the answer to that question. If the officer acknowledges that I am detained (seized) I will ask, “For suspicion of what crime are you detaining me?” After all, if there is a real crime that he’s investigating, I want to help the officer get back to finding the real perpetrator and stop wasting his time on me.

 

The police cannot seize a citizen (Terry stop) without a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity (not Criminal activity) has been, is being, or is about to be committed. Being suspicious or acting suspicious doesn’t cut it, there has to be an element of a crime of which the officer suspects you are involved. If it is legal for you to be in the park and there is no law in your city or state that makes it illegal to poke around in the shrubbery, it would be a violation of your civil rights for an officer to detain you for doing these thing, no matter how peculiar it appears. In most cases, the officer is merely engaging in a conversation with you, which is perfectly acceptable, but you have the right to terminate that discussion and walk away.

 

Now, if you’re in the park after posted hours and you are (justifiably) seized, you better start explaining why you’re there and hope the officer lets you off with just a warning.

Edited by Criminal
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I have been stopped by a few park rangers looking for caches in an area that is known for illegal offroading (I drive a jeep) and they will ask the usual questions and then they see the gpsr and know why I am there. Then they will say I think you are in the wrong spot, have fun searching and they leave. The rangers are a little more familiar with the sport and most probably take part.

Edited by derider
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We have had a couple of encounters with the local law enforcement crews and a couple with security guys. In all cases we have been totally up front with them and had no problems. The security guys seems to want to be a bit more agressive but that is fine.

 

I am geocaching. Would you like to see the cache I just found? Or I am geocaching. Would you like to help me find the @#%@$% micro that is hidden here?

 

Random nosey neighbors are more of a challenge to deal with than the other two groups. We are up front and honest with them as well.

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Lol! I've had a small handful of police encounters while caching. Most have been of the polite "Hi, what are you doing? Ok, have fun" variety, but one that wasn't happened just last month when we visited Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and did Target This Puzzle Under The Lights (GC1H3G4). It was a good cache, but here's the log from that encounter:

 

This cache did not go as smoothly as I would have liked, but we were successful in the end. It was late at night, and Target was about to close. Spooky 2 needed some supplies for the next day, so she hurried inside while I started checking light poles. The nearby ones had nothing. I expanded out and tried another grouping. Nothing. Spooky 2 was still shopping so I tried another, further pole. This one had something! Then it was just a quick sweep to get the other sets of coordinates. Spooky 2 was still shopping.

I decided to cruise around and see if I could figure out which coords were the right ones. We drove around and quickly figured out which coords were the correct ones, and even better, they were right near the parking lot! (Here's where I maybe didn't make the best choice of the evening, but I stand by it anyway) I parked, left the van running and hopped out to check the nearby trees. Well, as luck would have it, my GPSr was lagging as usual. I had to go further. And further. Just a little bit further, and there it was. Found It! SL, took the Replicoin, and left a Roo Penny. All told, the whole search took between 5 and 10 minutes. I climbed back up the hill, crested it, and who should be waiting but the uber-muggle, one of York Counties Finest!

 

He was not in a good mood. He had not heard of Geocaching, and didn't seem in the frame of mind for an explanation. Seems someone had noticed suspicious behavior (Skirtlifting) and called the police! It must have been a re-eally slow night. He was very upset to discover that I had left the rest of the Little Spookies in the van with it running. He gave some story about a lady who left an infant in a car running and went into Wal-Mart to return something and got arrested for child abuse/neglect. He took my license and went to see what he could nail me on. After what seemed like an inordinately long time he returned it and proceeded to lecture some more. He had nothing on me. Even the few speeding tickets I've gotten are too far in the past to count for anything. He seemed really disappointed, but there was nothing he could do, since Spooky 3 is old enough to watch her brothers on her own, and there isn't a law against leaving a vehicle running (or skirtlifting for that matter).

 

Yes, the best course of action would have been to wait for Spooky 2 to get done shopping, or turn off the van and lock the kids in it. Mr. Uber-Muggle explained all that.

 

Very cool idea for a cache. The initial coords need to be shifted, IMO, but the rest of the cache was great! (Except for the visit from the po-po.)

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I've only had an officer stop me one time, and it was very informal. In fact, he didn't even bother to get out of his cruiser. It was a Saturday morning and my son and I were searching in a city park not far from our home. His suspicions were aroused because in order to locate the cache we were looking for, we needed a ladder to climb up into a tree. He spotted us with the ladder and slowly pulled up.

 

He politely asked "What are you fellas up to today?" I told him we were geocaching and asked if he had ever heard of it. He said that he had, but wasn't quite sure what was involved. I showed him my GPS, and luckily I had the cache printout from GC.com to offer up more proof. He told us to be careful and not fall off the ladder, wished us luck, and then went on his way. I haven't been stopped since, but I think if it were ever to happen again, I'd handle it exactly the same way. Just don't make any sudden moves, and if you need to reach into your pocket or bag to retrieve something to offer up as proof, ASK first, or better yet, let the officer take your bag and search it himself.

 

This is supposed to be a fun hobby...no sense getting youself shot over some dime store swag.

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As long as you're non-threatening and not on private property without permission. You should have no problems talking to Leo's, as they're only doing their job. Lets face it, wandering around with a handheld and then looking in the bushes is suspicious, not to mention opening it up, doing something with the contents and then carefully hiding it back in the same spot. But you can graciously enlighten the officer with information about the hobby and be generally friendly.

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One method that works well, but requires a bit of pre planning, is the crazy drunk solution. Buy a can of split pea soup, with a pull top lid. Keep it in your center console. Once you see blue lights, open it and dump it down the front of your shirt. Rub a bit in your hair for added effect. unbuckle your belt, (not your pants!), stagger out of your car and, as loud as you can, sing a bar of Alice's Restaurant. Works like a charm! :D

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One method that works well, but requires a bit of pre planning, is the crazy drunk solution. Buy a can of split pea soup, with a pull top lid. Keep it in your center console. Once you see blue lights, open it and dump it down the front of your shirt. Rub a bit in your hair for added effect. unbuckle your belt, (not your pants!), stagger out of your car and, as loud as you can, sing a bar of Alice's Restaurant. Works like a charm! :D

Sounds like the Designated Drunk plan we used outside a bar once (Years a go) A 100% percent sober person leaves the bar, stumbles, drops keys 3 times trying to open the car door and drives off to be instantly stopped by a cop watching the place. While said officer is occupied with our Very Sober friend, the rest of us with slightly questionable sobriety, jump in our cars and took off.

Edited by WatchDog2020
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With all that said, I HATE the questions, "Do you know why I'm here?" and "Do you know why I pulled you over?" There's no actual answer for this!

Actually there's a reason those kinds of questions are asked. You'd be suprised how people will puke all over themselves confessing to stuff. And whatever you say and confess to is admissible. For example, over 30 yrs ago I stopped a car for only having 1 license plate. IL requires 2 plates on a vehicle. I asked the driver if he knew why I stopped him and he replied "Yeah, what you want to see is in the trunk." So I told him to get it. He opened the trunk and it was crammed full of garbage bags of marijuana. Several hundred pounds. He thought when I stopped him someone had tipped me off he was hauling and he puked all over himself. All admissible in court. He volunteered the information.

One of my Troops got a murder confession by asking that question. When he asked if the driver knew why he was being stopped the response was "I knew you'd catch me. I'm sure she's dead."

 

The police cannot seize a citizen (Terry stop) without a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity (not Criminal activity) has been, is being, or is about to be committed. Being suspicious or acting suspicious doesn’t cut it, there has to be an element of a crime of which the officer suspects you are involved.

Remember tho, what YOU think is reasonable suspicion may not be the same as what the LEO believes is reasonable suspicion. The LEO may have more info at his disposal that what you think is occurring. It's what the LEO can articulate as reasonable suspicion. You may not think the LEO has reasonble suspicion but the LEO doesn't have to explain to you what gives rise to his suspicion. If you want to argue whether the LEO had legal justification for the reasonable suspicion then that's what the government pays judges to decide. For a layman, who reads some tin foil hat website to get their legal knowledge, to argue on the street what's legal and what isn't will very likely result in them getting to pay attorney fees and arguing their case before a judge.

Your explanation of the Terry Stop isn't completely accurate. Here's what "reasonable suspicion" involved in Terry. A LEO saw Terry walking near a business. He was walking back and forth in front of the building and would look inside. Do those actions sound familar? Maybe a lot like a geocacher trying to find a cache, ie, walking back and forth in a given location and looking in a general direction. The LEO who observed Terry articulated that using his experience such actions were consistent with someone casing a business prior to a robbery. The LEO approached Terry, and based on the actions the LEO had observed and a lack of a reasonable response from Terry and believing Terry could be casing a business, he questioned Terry and patted him down finding a weapon. The USSC upheld the LEO's actions reasonble of stopping, questioning, and patting down Terry and the subsequent weapon charge.

So while what you believe might not be reasonable suspicion, as is the case in Terry v Ohio, Terry's actions did give rise to what the USSC found as reasonable suspicion and the stop was entirely legal. Terry's actions giving rise to reasonble suspicion were really nothing more than what a cacher does when looking for a difficult cache.

Edited by Wadcutter
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I'm going to guess that this officer is fairly new to our city's department. We hosted GW5 almost 2 years ago. In anticipation of lots of night caching activity by our nearly 2000 guests, we sent a bulletin to all of the regional LE agencies about 10 days before the event. It was drafted by a cacher who is a LEO and distributed through official channels. I didn't hear of any bad encounters that whole weekend, and even got a friendly wave about 1AM from a passing cruiser while I was caching in the downtown area with some geopals after the event. AFAIK there are 3-4 members of the RPD who cache, and I'm friendly with a cacher who is on the State Capitol PD.

 

I've had over a dozen conversations with LEO's while caching and none have been unpleasant. As already pointed out-if you aren't doing anything illegal then simply making eye contact and providing a truthful explanation should answer any of their questions. I've even had a few stop and help make the find, including one very memorable experience in Jacksonville FL after GW3. :D

 

Raleigh is a medium sized city, with very few neighborhoods that I would avoid after dark, but if some people feel more comfortable caching while armed, fine. I don't have any specific memory of the OP's encounter cache as I found that one 3 years ago, but it isn't in a neighborhood that should have anyone concerned for their safety more than you should in any city.

 

And yes, carrying a few handouts from geocacher-U is always a good idea too. Especially if you aren't comfortable explaining your actions to others. I talk to strangers at work all the time, so I'm pretty comfortable with most situations. I find keeping the pea soup off the front of my outfit helps make them more comfortable talking to me too. :D

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The police cannot seize a citizen (Terry stop) without a reasonable suspicion that criminal activity (not Criminal activity) has been, is being, or is about to be committed. Being suspicious or acting suspicious doesn’t cut it, there has to be an element of a crime of which the officer suspects you are involved.

Remember tho, what YOU think is reasonable suspicion may not be the same as what the LEO believes is reasonable suspicion.

Yes, I agree. My point was focused on the question, “Am I being detained?” The rules of play are much different for a seizure than they are for a mutual conversation.

Terry's actions giving rise to reasonble suspicion were really nothing more than what a cacher does when looking for a difficult cache.

That's a bizarre statement. I disagree with that.

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Terry's actions giving rise to reasonble suspicion were really nothing more than what a cacher does when looking for a difficult cache.

That's a bizarre statement. I disagree with that.

You may disagree with it but if you've read Terry v Ohio then look what Terry was doing when he was observed.

He was walking back and forth slowly in front of a building. He was looking around and would look in the window.

What does a cacher do when they can't get a good read on the GPS which as we all know is very common in an urban setting? Walk back and forth trying to get a good lock and looking in places where we think something might be placed. Observation by someone both actions committed are the same, ie, the constant slowly walking back and forth and the looking around for something. Is he looking for a bison tube or looking for the police before going in to stick up the place? Same overt actions. That's what reasonable suspicion is and gives legal authority to investigate further. And that is what Terry is about.

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when i am stopped by the police, i am very, very polite, regardless of my opinion of the particular officer.

 

there are two kinds of officers: those who really want to help people and work diligently to protect communities, and jerks who like to push people around because they can.

 

i have been stopped by both.

 

the guys who detained me on suspicion of being a terrorist fell into that second category. you can almost tell before they say anything.

 

one night there were some officers parked next to the shrub in which a stage of a multi was located. i walked right up to the squad car. "hello, officers. i'm playing a game. will you mind if i search those bushes for my clue?"

 

no, they did not mind.

 

here's my favorite one.

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Terry's actions giving rise to reasonble suspicion were really nothing more than what a cacher does when looking for a difficult cache.

That's a bizarre statement. I disagree with that.

You may disagree with it but if you've read Terry v Ohio then look what Terry was doing when he was observed.

He was walking back and forth slowly in front of a building. He was looking around and would look in the window.

What does a cacher do when they can't get a good read on the GPS which as we all know is very common in an urban setting? Walk back and forth trying to get a good lock and looking in places where we think something might be placed. Observation by someone both actions committed are the same, ie, the constant slowly walking back and forth and the looking around for something. Is he looking for a bison tube or looking for the police before going in to stick up the place? Same overt actions. That's what reasonable suspicion is and gives legal authority to investigate further. And that is what Terry is about.

Ah, no. There is a huge difference -which is the ‘element of a crime’. In Terry, it was reasonable for the officer to believe they were casing the place preparing for a robbery. Robbery is a crime, thus it is acceptable for the police to detain someone behaving that way. A person wandering around the park looking under the bushes, or walking back and forth on a city street while staring at their Garmin, does not appear to anyone to be preparing for an illegal act, regardless of how peculiar it may look. I will agree that in some states the bar is much lower than it is here in WA, where our privacy rights are much stronger and much more jealously guarded by the courts than in some other states.

Edited by Criminal
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1) Never lie to them

2) Many of them know what geocaching is, the ones I met who haven't usually become interested in it.

3) Explain to the what it is and tell the website.

I have had many interactions with them. Some ask if I can sign their name on the log when I find it. Some have gotten out and helped us look.

Since caches have been mistaken for bombs and other dangerous items, having them informed helps recuce the loss of caches due to these events. I've heard some areas require you to inform police where caches are located.

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In 8 years of caching I've been stopped 1 time in Palm Springs Ca. in back of a shopping center coming out of the bushes with a large pill bottle, the only thing the officer was interested in was what was in the the bottle, he seemed very unhappy when all he found was a log with a bunch of weird names in it and a couple of pieces of junk :D:D .

Another time in Garden Grove Ca. I spent about 5 minutes looking for a cache again in the bushes with a patrol car parked about 20 feet away, after finding the cache and replacing it I went up to the officer to explain what I was doing and he just shook his head :D:D

Edited by vagabond
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I live in Australia, and we don't seem to attract the same level of interest from our men in blue. Usually. My husband got a call a few weeks ago. Apparently some "concerned citizens" (aka busybodies) have been photographing suspicious activity in the quiet suburban park opposite their house. In my case, they had photos of me and the car, complete with registration, which is how the police found us. Yeah, we just told them what we were up to, and suggested the old people get a life and take up geocaching.

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Ah, no. There is a huge difference -which is the ‘element of a crime’. In Terry, it was reasonable for the officer to believe they were casing the place preparing for a robbery. Robbery is a crime, thus it is acceptable for the police to detain someone behaving that way. A person wandering around the park looking under the bushes, or walking back and forth on a city street while staring at their Garmin, does not appear to anyone to be preparing for an illegal act, regardless of how peculiar it may look. I will agree that in some states the bar is much lower than it is here in WA, where our privacy rights are much stronger and much more jealously guarded by the courts than in some other states.

Ah, no. There was no "element of the crime" which in Terry which gave the officers grounds to stop and question Terry. No crime had been committed when the officer approached Terry. The officer observed Terry walking back and forth and looking around a building. The officer, based on his experience and training, articulated that such actions were the same as someone casing a place. The officer suspected Terry might be up to no good due to his actions. The LEO had not seen Terry commit any crime, only his actions of walking back and forth and looking around a building. That in and of itself is not a crime. The LEO sees someone walking back and forth in front of a business or other estabilishment and looking around. Same actions committed by cachers. It's the very same actions committed by Terry. The LEO observing the cacher's actions is the same as the LEO who observed Terry. Such actions would give any LEO the legal grounds to approach, detain, question, and pat to investigate further if the person is in fact planning or about to commit a crime. The mere possession of the person carrying a GPS does not give an automatic pass to the person. The LEO still has the legal authority to detain to investigate further.

That's what Terry is about. Terry is about a LEO observing actions which due to their training and experience would tend to give indication that someone is about to commit a crime which then allows the LEO to investigate further. That's Terry. It's a USSC ruling. Your state may be more restrictive than Terry but it cannot be more lenient.

BTW, I taught Terry for a lot of years.

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Ain't that why God made suppression hearings? So us LEOs could make overtime giggling at the mooks who learned rules of law from TV shows? :)

The last one I went to the defense attorney was all atwitter because I didn't read his client Miranda, and couldn't grasp why I didn't have to.

Even the Judge had fun with that one. :(

Edited by Clan Riffster
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Ain't that why God made suppression hearings? So us LEOs could make overtime giggling at the mooks who learned rules of law from TV shows? :(

The last one I went to the defense attorney was all atwitter because I didn't read his client Miranda, and couldn't grasp why I didn't have to.

Even the Judge had fun with that one. :(

 

That's why I'd ask the simple question ‘am I free to go?' - If the reply is anything but 'No', I'd walk away. As soon as it's 'No', you are under the LEO's care, custody and control and don't have to say anything besides who you are. If they reply 'yes, but it's in your best interest to tell me what is going on' or anything like that, they are just fishing for you to make incriminating statements on your 'own free will'.

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I cache in the wee hours of the morning and get stopped regularly. I state I'm geocaching and ask if there is a problem. It can go several ways from there. If they are looking for someone, I have been able to help by keeping my eyes open and paying attention when out and about. If I'm in a park, I have gotten the lecture about them being closed, but after I explain, most of them are cool. Otherwise they just want to chat and make sure you're not up to anything illicit.

 

This morning I got stopped and the cop kind of had a bad attitude towards me and didn't believe the geocaching bit. (I am a big bald caucasian) But his backup showed up and when cop 1 asked cop 2 about it, cop 2 got all excited about wanting to get a GPSr and start caching, he'd been looking into it for a couple weeks after stopping another cacher. Turned the whole situation around. I showed him my GPSr and they were amazed at all the caches in the area, so I showed them one down the road to prove my point.

 

Cop 1 then apologized for his bluntness, which I understand, these guys never know what they are going to run into out there. I'm not going to make things tougher for them (and get shot)

 

I've been:

Asked if I was drunk (too many times)

Detained as a car prowler (once)

Suspected of dealing drugs (twice)

Told my car was parked illegally (???)

Told that I was trespassing (I wasn't and he knew it)

Thought to be a suicide jumper

Vandal

Burglar

Car thief

Stopped for my own safety

 

And the coup de gras: Caught in the middle of a police action (gunman barricaded in home) this is a whole story in and of itself while going for an FTF. Had a bunch of cops pull in around me as I was reaching right were I thought it was hidden. Hands on head, back up three paces, the works.

 

It just adds a little more adventure to the game (I don't have to be out at 3am)

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I've found it's best to be very upfront with what you're doing. If you act too strange when cops are about, they're going to assign the worst of motives to you!

 

It also helps to approach the cop first if you see one. I got out of a VERY expensive trespassing ticket this way. While on a cache hunt I got kind of turned around because I'd taken the wrong fork in the road to get me to the cache. I didn't know I'd ended up on private land, but down the road from the bridge I had taken in an attempt to get across a very big river back to my car, I saw a cop stop a couple of mountain bikers. I was pretty sure he'd seen me, too, so I walked up to him, held up my GPSr, told him I could not find the correct route back to my car (entirely true) and asked him if he could point me in the right direction. After a short and stern lecture about trespassing, he took my info, told me to continue on my way and let me off with a warning. Later on down the trail, I ran into the mountain bikers again, who had gotten a ticket. I really believe that I got out of it because I wasn't trying to hide what I was doing there. When I finally got back to my car, I actually met the cache owner in the parking lot, and asked him to be a little more clear on his cache page which fork of the road to take, so you end up on the right side of the river and don't have to cross this particular bridge to get back.

 

It made for an interesting log, anyway!

 

Every other time I've been stopped by a cop (there's been a couple), they've been pretty friendly once I explained what I was doing.

 

And, I do sometimes "carry"... it first depends where I'm caching, and sometimes depends on if I'm alone or not. In our state, you have to tell the cop if you're armed and have your permit on your person.

 

BlueDamsel

Edited by BlueDamsel
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Be honest, forthcoming without talking too much, polite.

 

Keep your hands visible. Don't reach into pockets or wherever for geocaching brochures or cards without informing the officer that's what you're doing. If there's any sign of hesitancy on the cops response this, don't do it, ask if it's ok. I once had 3 guns pulled on me for reaching into the seatback pocket in my car without telling them what I was doing.

 

Personally I wouldn't use Criminal's approach - it seems like trying to take control of the situation, which isn't going to work in most cases. Maybe it'd work for him - after all, he's a criminal. :D

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We've been out on a few caches and had a member of the local law enforcement walk up to us and ask what we were up to. After explaining for about a half hour or so what geocaching was he proceeded to follow us to a few more caches and do them with us! Was fun and the LEO was very cool and actually found one by himself with our GPSr. Just be honest and don't act nervous, after all you more than likely aren't doing anything wrong. This was in the Ocala, Florida area. All that I kept thinking is how many geocaches is this guy going to be doing instead of looking for criminals...... LOL

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Ive only had one incident with the local PD. I was at the entrance to a park, had the micro in my lap and was rolling up the log. He pulled up next to my van and asked me if there was a problem to which I explained what I was doing.

 

What happened next is that the police officer actually wanted to see where and how the cache was hidden so I showed him the sign and we placed the cache back in its original spot together. Then he asked if there were any other caches close by that we could find so we ended up walking to another one and he used his flashlight to locate it since it was night time.

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Here's mine and it wasn't too long ago. GCT2JA

 

Here's the entry:

 

January 31 by Len & Cheri (75 found)

My wife and I were just signing the log when around the corner came a Deputy Sheriff in his car who acted like he was after someone. He asked what we we were doing and my wife said "Geocaching". He responded with a weird look because he obviously didn't know what she was talking about. I told him " It's a high tech hide and seek", he said "It must be high tech" and drove off. Our first encounter with a LEO and I'll bet it won't be our last. :)

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So long as you aren't engaged in criminal activity, the best course of action is ALWAYS to tell any police exactly what you're up to if they should ask. Sure it's tempting to want to be `that guy', you know the one who says things like "I know my rights", "I'm not doing anything illegal, if I'm not being detained or arrested, goodbye.", and the like, but giving them a hard time is more likely than not going to cause them to give you a hard time.

 

Now the only time I ever encountered law enforcement while caching was actually initiated by me. Found a garbage bag near a cache site full of somebody's personal information, and I mean EVERYTHING you'd want to know about this guy (whoever he was), would have been an ID theif's dream. Copies of driver's license, social security card, court records, it was the most bizarre random thing I've ever found, and I took it to the park office, which happened to be closed. A county sheriff car happened to drive by, and I flagged him down, gave him the bag that we found, he asked us where we found it, naturally I was able to give him the LAT/LON, and as far as I know nothing ever came of it. I actually mentioned that we were in the area geocaching (he didn't ask what we were doing, after all it was a public park), and he said he was familiar with it.

 

On a semi-related note, I've been questioned 3 or 4 times by the local police because when I have insomnia, I walk down to the railroad tracks and film trains going by at night. Most of the time, they seem more concerned for my safety than anything else, they usually end with "Well, you have a good night, just make sure you keep your distance."

 

I guess the moral of that long-winded rant is that if you're not breaking any laws, just tell them exactly what you're up to, even though you aren't required by law to. It works out better in the end for everyone.

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My first encounter with a Law Enforcement Officer while geocaching happened while I was caching with my 14 year old daughter. We were just exiting the wooded area that the cache was in. He was very interested to know what I was doing in the woods with a teenager, and wasn't convinced that she was, in fact, my daughter.

 

He questioned us both at length individually. He did a license check and all the normal stuff. He was very dubious of our explaination of geocaching. He was very interested when I said that some people leave toys. He questioned us both individually again. Up to this point I was very cooperative and friendly with the officer. We had been detained for over 45 minutes, so I told him that I very much appreciated that he was looking out for the welfare of my daughter, but this has gone on long enough. I mentioned that it was quite obvious that there was nothing nefarious going on, and even though he never mentioned his suspicions, I was done smiling while he's thinking terrible things about me. I make it a habit of not being short with a Police officer, but since there was no convincing this guy, I told him it was time to give it up... Which he eventually did.

 

My next encounter was much more pleasant. While standing on top of a snow bank trying to extract a nano from a street sign, a lady LEO pulled up and asked what was going on. I explained Geocaching and showed her the cache. She seemed truly intrigued and said she would check out the web site (GC) and drove off.

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I just growl these words, "you'll never take me alive coppers!" while reaching into my violin case.

 

Seriously, my few meetings (always in the day time, I guess I cache less often at night) have been reasonable enough, usually more friendly than suspicious. Here is one where the officer checked to make sure I didn't have a problem when I pulled in to park, then I was VERY glad to have the same officer pull up when the property owner called the police on me.

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A caching acquaintance of mine recently told me that you're not a true cacher until you have: 1. Gotten Poison Ivy while searching for a cache; 2. Lost blood to thorns; and 3. Been questioned by a cop.

 

I guess I am an official Geocacher now.I was stoped twice in less then a week in two diffrent states. Both time I asked if Mr. LEO was familiar with the sport, and informed them about it, showed them my GPSr, and in one case showed them the cache, and the log. The second one was at night, my better half was in the car, and when the Po-Po drove up I steped away from the car and moved my hands away from my body. LEO is a little jumpy in the town I was in. He ran our tag# and asked for ID, from both of us, and called them in. He informed us that in KY when public stores are closed You are tresspassing on thier property. I didn't have a printed cache sheet with me to show him. The Cache owner got premission from the Store manager, it says that on the cache page. I just didn't have proof. LEO ended up letting us go. Honesty is the best option in my experience.

 

Cabear

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