+TeamPatchwork Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Just thought I'd share this little story with y'all. I'm one of those cachers that has a cache in my yard. I know there are different opinions on this, but it's been a very good experience for us. (It's been up and running for about a year or so). I told the neighbors early on what we were doing, and they get a kick out of folks pull up and grab it. They call it that "GPS Geek Game". Any, recently, a police car pulled up in my yard and the officer went to the cache. Thinking he was a Geocacher, I went out to greet him. He said they had had a report of "Suspicious activity" and were checking it out. So he opened the cache, looked at all the swag, log book, etc, and asked a bit more about caching. We ended up chatting for probably about 15 minutes or so, and he wished me a good day and went on his way. That's pretty much all there is to the story, but I did ask him to make other officers aware of what Geocaching is in case they run into any cachers in the area and question what it is. Just thought I'd share that story with y'all! Everyone have a great day! Quote Link to comment
+tango501 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I have run into many cops while caching, most are aware of geocaching I have even managed to employ their help in locating a few caches would have been a cool youtube moment to see a couple of police officers seeking cache at GZ while I watched we did seem to attract alot of attention tho, oops Quote Link to comment
+J-Way Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 More likely, one of your neighbors from farther away decided that all these strange vehicles parking for only a few minutes before driving away were stashing or retrieving drugs. I'm glad everything worked out great! I've personally had run-ins with three LEO's. Two had heard of the activity and left after a few questions. One had not, and was not happy about the container I showed him that was padlocked to a fence on city property. But the cache is still active, so I guess everything worked out OK. Quote Link to comment
+WebChimp Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I have even managed to employ their help in locating a few caches A couple of years ago, my sons and I were on the other side of the state, behind a closed discount store, looking for a cache container when a slightly suspicious city police officer drove up to see what we were doing behind a closed business. I started to explain about caching, when my youngest yelled out "Hey, I got it!". the officer got out to said what he "got", and that really confused him. We ended up having a great visit, and we were inviting him to show up at the next hide so he could help us find it, when he got a radio call and had to leave. We've been checked on by LEOs three or four times, and each time they were just as nice as they could be. Quote Link to comment
+Chewy_06 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I ran into several late yesterday afternoon while going to check on one of my caches. I spotted a handful of youths using a ladder to go up onto the roof / into a secure compound of a high school that adjoins the park where my cache was & called it in. An extended phone call later was followed by a coordinated rollup of a handful of RCMP vehicles from all directions. After the dust settled, they wanted to talk to me - and during the conversation, the "what were you doing here?" question came out. None of them knew anything about it. Chalk up another geocaching story! Quote Link to comment
+DragonsWest Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Haven't been visited, yet, by officers. Likely because we have an overabundance of shady characters around here, from transients to vagrants. If you appear well dressed they may eye you more critically. Quote Link to comment
+DocDiTTo Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I too have a cache in my yard in an old mailbox. I also have a police station just down the road, so cops are driving by all the time. Once when I was talking to a cacher visiting the cache an officer stopped in the road and asked what the box was. I told him to pull into the driveway and I'd explain, so he did. As soon as I asked if he'd heard of geocaching, he laughed and said "Oh sure. I catch geocachers all the time". I guess the folks in my area need to brush up on their stealth. Quote Link to comment
+solo63137 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Just thought I'd share this little story with y'all. I'm one of those cachers that has a cache in my yard. Interesting... Pics of said cache???? Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Let me get this straight, he was up on your property checking out suspcious activity and didn't even bother to contact you first? Glad it all turned out ok and great job on the education but sometimes LEOs make me wonder........ Quote Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 You do not have permission to search my person. You do not have permission to search my vehicle. You do not have permission to search my belongings. Am I suspected of committing a crime? Am I free to go? Yay for geocaching. I hate nosy neighbors... Quote Link to comment
+solo63137 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Front Yard or back??? Quote Link to comment
+coman123 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I hid a cache right near a police station,fire dept and ambulance base. I notified the local Police Officials, whom I know from my work to show them, they get a kick out of cachers sneaking the cache to sign the log with-out being seen by the cops.Its just a Magnetic Skirt lifter, but it works for the area. The other day, a restaurant owner in the area found the cache on the ground and took it to the police station to report a suspicious container. The officer said it was just a GPS game piece and told the owner where to put it back. See getting permission and informing the Local Law enforcement officers pays off. Quote Link to comment
+Gamaliel Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 The officer said it was just a GPS game piece and told the owner where to put it back. If this happened in the US, the bomb squad would be out their with their toys. Quote Link to comment
+steve p Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Yay for geocaching. I hate nosy neighbors... But, if a real criminal were sneaking around in your backyard, would you want your nosy neighbors to ignore it? Quote Link to comment
+mrbort Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I recently searched for and DNF a cache hidden in this little town in north dakota... inside/underneath the fake police car with the dummy in front of the Sheriff's station. I pulled in and chatted with a deputy for a while (who loved the idea of geocaching and loved also the people wriggling around on the ground under the car looking for the cache) before looking like an idiot myself for a bit and eventually not finding it... was nearing the end of the day and had to find a place in the nearby grasslands. I just really liked the fact that the LEOs in the town encouraged it and were consequently also aware of other caches. Quote Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I have a geocache hid under a mailbox (magnets) in front of a police station. Seriously. Cachers have posted their pics with officers. What I said is all true but it is all legal and withing guidelines. Quote Link to comment
+mchaos Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 There is a new cache I want to place. I have a lock and lock I epoxied some magnets too. The local municipal build has an old caboose next to it as sort of a monument. I want to hide it under it attached to some metal part. I have printed a geocaching booklet to help explain it to police etc. don't think there will be a problem. I have only encountered one police officer and he knew all about geocaching, and there is one placed by the rescue squad building I believe placed by some one on the squad. I just moved into the area, and saw the caboose and thought right away that it would be a great spot to hide something and was on my way one day to place it until I saw it was a municipal building. I decided it would be better to get some info together and go ask them first before I place it. Its always hard to explain it to some one with out some kind of tangible aid. You always get the dog head tilt from people. It makes it seem legitimate when you have some kind of literature to let some one read. Quote Link to comment
+TeamPatchwork Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 The cache is in the front yard, and the title of the cache is "A Cache for the Birds" which should pretty much give it away without a picture. (I'm not much of one on spoilers) One of the posters said something that got me thinking. You're right, he was checking on "Suspicious Activity" but didn't bother to contact me? Odd!!! Quote Link to comment
+Knight2000 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Yay for geocaching. I hate nosy neighbors... But, if a real criminal were sneaking around in your backyard, would you want your nosy neighbors to ignore it? My neighbors are criminals. They wouldn't call the fuzz on themselves. Quote Link to comment
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