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my cache muggled by metro police


trevorh7000

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I am incensed to say the least.

 

I just received a message from the last finder of my cache that as he was replacing it metro police drove up an blocked him from leaving and ordered him out of his car. He explained what he was doing and the metro cops took it upon them selves to summarily decided that this was inappropriate and removed my cache.

 

They first accused him of defacing council property.

 

Observatory has a very low confidence level in metro police who despite having a training centre ion the middle of Obs, contribute very little to the safety and security of the area. Metro cops consistently under perform.

 

To be fair I did not specifically get council permission. The micro (bison tube) was attached to a gabion wall in public open space.

 

Contrary to metro polices admonishments to the cacher that this was a dangerous area there is nothing any more dangerous than any other area. The area is currently being upgraded with lighting and a bicycle / footpath. This just shows the level of incompetence displayed by the officers who of course were only doing their job no doubt.

 

I just wanted to vent about the incident, await some comments from the community and advice possibly from Fish Eagle as to how to proceed.

 

I sit on the committee of The Two RIvers Urban Park and I can assure you that no one would have a problem with that cache placement.

 

This is nothing more than bully tactics from ignorant overpaid and non-performing "police"officers.

 

I fully intend following this up to the highest level but will wait till I have cooled down.

 

Since the officers were complete ignorant of the concept of geocaching they could not possibly have appreciated what they did They therefore could not possible have known whether permission was granted or no tor even if what was happening was contravening any law or by law. . I wonder if they handed the cache in and made an incident report about this crime they stopped from being committed.

 

The cache in question is http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...af-98703b85c1dc

 

I will archive it tillI can sort this out and eventually replace it.

 

Trev

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Hi,

 

I was at the cache around 12:00 on Saturday (before the incident with the cops).

 

I don't think there was anything wrong with this cache. There was plenty of parking, the area seems safe enough and the cache was a micro, so it couldn't be mistaken for a bomb.

 

I think the metro cops were just taking themselves too seriously.

 

Hope the cacher involved was too frazzled by the experience.

 

Regards

Roscoe

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Eish!! Luckily this was not a regular. I think you should cool down – get the proper permission and place it again. If they remove it again then you have the ammunition to get to them. If you have incompetent people you must always make sure that all loop holes are covered and you take it step by step until they hang themselves. Do the same. Maybe this is a dangerous area and just maybe they acted correctly. There are always two sides on a coin.

 

I hope the other cacher is ok, he probably felt like a terrorist planting a bomb. :P

Gerhard

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Update

 

Today I got hold of a superintendent that knew what was going on and was able to help me. He knew about geocaching. I explained what had happened and he said he would try and find the officers responsible.

 

Not more than ten minutes later he called and said he had spoken to the officer concerned who still had the cache in his possession.

 

The Sup said he could not make a judgment call about the incident but that the officer converend needed to make a decision either to return the cache to me or to process it properly and hand it in at the SAP in Woodstock. The Sup will gibe the officer my phone number so he can contact me direct to talk about it.

 

The Sup[ himself did not think there was anythiong illegal in the activity, but said the offcier explained to hoim that he thought the cacher finding the cache was damaging the wall - it is a gabion wall and cannot be damaged by some one without heavy duty tools or a can of spraypaint!

 

Anyway this story could have a happy ending for all concerned and maybe a new cacher or two to boot!

 

I will post the conclusion when I have my cache back in my hands!

 

Trev

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Well done Trev in following up - I did the cache a while ago and don't understand how this idiot says it was damaging the wall!! Hope it is returned soon.

 

Despite your frustrations, keep the postings civil, this is an open forum.

 

As for damaging a gabion. There is actually a problem with people removing stones from gabions in cities eventually resulting in the structural integrity being compromised and the gabion starts to collapse prematurely. While gabions are designed to be flexible and deform considerably before collapsing, active removal of stones by people accelerates the process. Granted, this is mainly due to active thievery. :D

 

These caches can be extremely frustrating and can result in cachers managing to weasel out some of the stones in search of the cache. Often these are not replaced. While I would hope that cachers aren’t responsible, and any impact of caching would probably be quite minimal (one would need to be really over eager to destroy a gabion), keep an open mind as to the consequences of these type of hides.

 

Personally I’m not a fan of these type of placements, they can be darn frustrating :rolleyes::huh:

 

More importantly caches placed in or near old dry stone walls especially on heritage sites… (battery on signal hill springs to mind) having cachers searching for a cache in that it will only contribute to the demise of the wall as stones are removed and not replaced.

 

@trevor. Hope you get the cache back, look forward to the conclusion.

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Hi guys, I was cacher involved.

I still feel bad that I was the cause of Trevorh7000's cache being removed, perhaps if I had been stealthier they might not have spotted me and he would not have to deal with all of this.

 

Personally I think this is one for the books of why Geocaching is such a cool sport. We all do this for the adventure, and let me tell you finding that cache was quite an adventure and I do not regret the experience.

I only have 15 finds to date, but in that time 1) I have been to places where I live I did not know existed, 2) I've been to other towns where I saw sights only locals would know about and 3) I've had a run in with the police because of some $Bil satellites and small tube of paper (gotta appreciate the irony). Quite frankly keep the adventure coming cause it's all good!

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Vtro, you are one cool dude !!!. Even when cornered by the Metro guys you still keep to the fun part. The glass is not half empty but half full. For 15 caches you had more experience than guys with 1000 finds. I am glad that you will keep caching, well done and it is good to hear from you. Caching will never be boring. I hope the story have a good ending. I also think the comment from GR is valid and true and I second it. Gerhard

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Hi, welcome Vtro.

 

Great to hear more + than -. That is what geocaching is all about.

 

May this topic have a happy ending.

 

Yes - that end is in sight.

 

After three visits to the Woodstock Police Station (1st time Capt Mxxx was not there, second time he forgot to give the item to his assistant, third time lucky!) I have my cache back!!!!! Intact with the log sheet still inside.

 

Now all I have to do is get hold of the Metro Officer who took it to explain to him what it is all about, I dare not put it back before I do this as I am thinking he might be looking out for it.

 

I just wonder what he would have done with the cache had I not called a superior who ordered him to book it in.

 

Hopefully the cache will be up and running soon.

 

Trev

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Maybe you could hold an event like crystal fairy did in GP called Murder by Numbers, check it out, It was a murder mistery that teams had to solve clues to find out 'who done it' they involved the local SAPS station and officers actualy attended and helped set up the'Crime scene' this helped the local Saps to understand geocaching and what is involved!!!!

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