Geocache' prompts bomb squad inquiry

[+Castle Mischief]

I don't know... can anybody confirm this is an actual geocache?

 

‘Geocache' prompts bomb squad inquiry; road closure

 

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — A suspicious package located by the Tahoe Douglas County Bomb Squad on Friday turned out to be part of a GPS treasure hunting game.

 

Bomb squad personnel located the package duct taped to a pipe at Harrah's Lake Tahoe during a walk through of the casino around 3:30 p.m., said Sgt. Jim Halsey.

 

Law enforcement personnel closed Highway 50 for about 25 minutes while personnel x-rayed the package to determine its contents, Halsey said.

 

Deputies determined the package was a “Geocache.”

 

Geocaching is an activity where people post the coordinates of a container or “cache” online. Others then seek out the cache, writing their name in a guest book and sometimes leaving a trinket in the container for others to find.

 

The cache found Friday was turned over to Harrah's security following the bomb squad's response to the package, Halsey said.

 

Halsey encouraged future participants to refrain from taping caches to pipes or a building's support structure because law enforcement personnel will consider them suspicious.

[knowschad]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

[+wimseyguy]

It wasn't covered under their insurance?

Edited August 12, 2010 by wimseyguy

[+geodarts]

Good advice at the end of the article. I might have put it in somewhat stronger terms.

[+Team Cotati]

"Halsey encouraged future participants to refrain from taping caches to pipes or a building's support structure because law enforcement personnel will consider them suspicious."

 

What an outrageous and silly idea.

[+ventura_kids]

Good thing he had permission.....

[+roziecakes]

"Halsey encouraged future participants to refrain from taping caches to pipes or a building's support structure because law enforcement personnel will consider them suspicious."

 

What an outrageous and silly idea.

 

I agree with that. Something duct-taped to part of the building probably looks REALLY bad.

[+GeoGeeBee]

Reading the news article, and looking at the cache page linked by the dog with glasses, I'd be willing to be that "duct taped to the pipe" is not true.

 

First of all, have you ever seen a geocache that was duct taped to anything?

 

Second, the hint for the cache says "magnetic/pipe."

 

I'd be willing to bet that the cache was wrapped in duct tape, and stuck to the pipe with a magnet. NOT duct taped to the pipe.

 

Not that it really makes any difference, since the result is the same.

[knowschad]

"Halsey encouraged future participants to refrain from taping caches to pipes or a building's support structure because law enforcement personnel will consider them suspicious."

 

What an outrageous and silly idea.

 

I agree with that. Something duct-taped to part of the building probably looks REALLY bad.

Actually, that was the thing that threw me when I first read the article... I have never, ever seen a cache duct-taped to anything. But apparently this one was (assuming the reporter got the facts right, and we know they always do)

[knowschad]

Good thing he had permission.....

Are you certain he didn't?

[+GeoGeeBee]

"Halsey encouraged future participants to refrain from taping caches to pipes or a building's support structure because law enforcement personnel will consider them suspicious."

 

What an outrageous and silly idea.

 

I agree with that. Something duct-taped to part of the building probably looks REALLY bad.

Actually, that was the thing that threw me when I first read the article... I have never, ever seen a cache duct-taped to anything. But apparently this one was (assuming the reporter got the facts right, and we know they always do)

 

There are several pictures of the cache in the logs. It appears to be the standard black hide-a-key, with a piece of gray duct-tape stuck on it to help it blend in.

[+Ike 13]

The cache linked looks like a hide a key with old ratty duct tape that was a sad attempt of camo.

[+somegeek]

Edited August 12, 2010 by somegeek

[40zzzzz]

Why are you making this look funny? taping something to a pipe or building support post is stupid and would look very suspisious to me. i would call the cops if i saw something like that.

[+Panther&Pine]

Why are you making this look funny? taping something to a pipe or building support post is stupid and would look very suspisious to me. i would call the cops if i saw something like that.

Hang around for a while. You'll see that some topic appear with regularity, this happens to be one of them.

 

We aren't saying this is a smart idea to hide a cache, but we are saying it isn't surprising that folks called the LEOs about this cache- it looks suspicious.

[Andronicus]

I guess building supports could be included in the no major bridge etc. guide line

[+debaere]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

 

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

I am not sure why Harrahs would be billed for it tho. Sounds like the FD overreacted and called the cops. Not being directly involved I can only speculate wildly, so I'll stop here

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

 

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

I am not sure why Harrahs would be billed for it tho. Sounds like the FD overreacted and called the cops. Not being directly involved I can only speculate wildly, so I'll stop here

 

I've seen the cache location but didn't actually stop to find it. It's right outside the main entrance to Harrahs Casino and would certainly be on Harrahs property. I think it may be one of the many caches that was placed in 2007 for an event there. I found a couple of the other "LT" caches, and I think that there were about 40 or so of them placed. I'm wondering if permission was ever obtained for this one.

[GOF's Sock Puppet]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

 

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

I am not sure why Harrahs would be billed for it tho. Sounds like the FD overreacted and called the cops. Not being directly involved I can only speculate wildly, so I'll stop here

 

Officers that are being paid even if they didn't have to respond to this call?

[+Team Cotati]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

 

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

I am not sure why Harrahs would be billed for it tho. Sounds like the FD overreacted and called the cops. Not being directly involved I can only speculate wildly, so I'll stop here

 

Officers that are being paid even if they didn't have to respond to this call?

 

From an HR and general coverage view point, how many officers should be allocated per dispatch?

[GOF's Sock Puppet]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

 

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

I am not sure why Harrahs would be billed for it tho. Sounds like the FD overreacted and called the cops. Not being directly involved I can only speculate wildly, so I'll stop here

 

Officers that are being paid even if they didn't have to respond to this call?

 

From an HR and general coverage view point, how many officers should be allocated per dispatch?

 

As many as it takes to do the job as safely as possible, and then a couple extra for good measure. Your point is?

[knowschad]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

 

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

I am not sure why Harrahs would be billed for it tho. Sounds like the FD overreacted and called the cops. Not being directly involved I can only speculate wildly, so I'll stop here

 

Officers that are being paid even if they didn't have to respond to this call?

 

From an HR and general coverage view point, how many officers should be allocated per dispatch?

 

As many as it takes to do the job as safely as possible, and then a couple extra for good measure. Your point is?

... and a few curious off-duty ones and those on slow beats that heard the police call and wanted in on the excitement.

[GOF's Sock Puppet]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

 

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

I am not sure why Harrahs would be billed for it tho. Sounds like the FD overreacted and called the cops. Not being directly involved I can only speculate wildly, so I'll stop here

 

Officers that are being paid even if they didn't have to respond to this call?

 

From an HR and general coverage view point, how many officers should be allocated per dispatch?

 

As many as it takes to do the job as safely as possible, and then a couple extra for good measure. Your point is?

... and a few curious off-duty ones and those on slow beats that heard the police call and wanted in on the excitement.

 

Those would be the couple extra for good measure.

[knowschad]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

 

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

I am not sure why Harrahs would be billed for it tho. Sounds like the FD overreacted and called the cops. Not being directly involved I can only speculate wildly, so I'll stop here

 

Officers that are being paid even if they didn't have to respond to this call?

 

From an HR and general coverage view point, how many officers should be allocated per dispatch?

 

As many as it takes to do the job as safely as possible, and then a couple extra for good measure. Your point is?

... and a few curious off-duty ones and those on slow beats that heard the police call and wanted in on the excitement.

 

Those would be the couple extra for good measure.

(boy, getting those quotes nested deep, huh?) To be fair, the crowd control may have been a huge problem at a casino (unless they announced that they had just lowered the odds on all slot machines).

[GOF's Sock Puppet]

I think I found it. GC13XT3 LT013 Pony Express.

 

Log

Douglas County Fire Department, while doing an inspection of the Harrahs property, found this cache. Worried that it might be a bomb, bomb squad was called, cache was x-rayed, found to be benign, and then removed. Saying that this cost the county thousands of dollars, Harrahs Security is wondering to whom the bill should be sent.

 

Interesting that they x-rayed it first. I wish more bomb squads would do that. I must wonder why it would cost "thousands of dollars" to x-ray a package, though.

 

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

I am not sure why Harrahs would be billed for it tho. Sounds like the FD overreacted and called the cops. Not being directly involved I can only speculate wildly, so I'll stop here

 

Officers that are being paid even if they didn't have to respond to this call?

 

From an HR and general coverage view point, how many officers should be allocated per dispatch?

 

As many as it takes to do the job as safely as possible, and then a couple extra for good measure. Your point is?

... and a few curious off-duty ones and those on slow beats that heard the police call and wanted in on the excitement.

 

Those would be the couple extra for good measure.

(boy, getting those quotes nested deep, huh?) To be fair, the crowd control may have been a huge problem at a casino (unless they announced that they had just lowered the odds on all slot machines).

 

Yeah. The amazing part is that we haven't broken them yet.

 

How bad could the crowds have been? Unless it was hidden on the buffet? That could have been bad.

[+Charlie Fingers]

I always found it funny when people complain about the cost in man hours for police or fire response when we aren't getting paid anymore to respond to that scene than a fender bender. The only way it would cost more is if reserves or off duty were called in. Of course using the x-ray would be an extra expense, but everybody else is still getting paid the same.

[+brslk]

I always found it funny when people complain about the cost in man hours for police or fire response when we aren't getting paid anymore to respond to that scene than a fender bender. The only way it would cost more is if reserves or off duty were called in. Of course using the x-ray would be an extra expense, but everybody else is still getting paid the same.

 

Exactly. And if they used an x-ray device I would assume they already had it and didn't just purchase one for this one instance thus costing them several thousand dollars.

 

I may be wrong.

[knowschad]

I always found it funny when people complain about the cost in man hours for police or fire response when we aren't getting paid anymore to respond to that scene than a fender bender. The only way it would cost more is if reserves or off duty were called in. Of course using the x-ray would be an extra expense, but everybody else is still getting paid the same.

 

Exactly. And if they used an x-ray device I would assume they already had it and didn't just purchase one for this one instance thus costing them several thousand dollars.

 

I may be wrong.

The x-ray device likely cost them hundreds of dollars. But it does make one wonder what those donuts cost the taxpayers.

[+Charlie Fingers]

I always buy the first box.

[+Team_FussyPants]

The cache is here local, and is indeed just a black hide a key with some duct tape that at one point served as camo. Once again its a case of the media sensationalizing something to make media.

[Clan Riffster]

My vote would be to bill the goober who somehow thought a hide-a-key could contain enough explosive agent, along with a detonation device and a power source, to be a threat to anything larger than a cricket.

[+TeamAH3]

 

Good one. Sometime you wish people would just calm down a bit. I lived in London during all the IRA years when bombs were a very real and regular occurrence and there wasn't the levels of fear and paranoia that seem to be common today.

[andysipevideos]

hiding a cash that looks like a pipe bomb is stupid and anyone who does that is an idiot.

[knowschad]

hiding a cash that looks like a pipe bomb is stupid and anyone who does that is an idiot.

[+Castle Mischief]

hiding a cash that looks like a pipe bomb is stupid and anyone who does that is an idiot.

 

Yes, because hide-a-keys look like pip bombs.

 

Creating accounts just to post and take pot shots at all the threads on the front page is pretty stupid too.

[+Castle Mischief]

Well the last time I went to the emergency room for a sprained ankle they x-rayed it - the bill was almost $700. Add to that the cost of multiple police officers on scene, for several hours, plus however long it took them to complete the resulting paperwork etc. Not to mention the bomb squad. I would not be surprised if >20 law enforcement officers were involved in this in its entirety. I could easily see how the incident cost thousands of dollars.

 

The reason that Er trip X-ray cost $700 is due to a whole bunch of reasons that would never factor in this situation. But, yeah I think you're right that the "cost" is not the actual $$$ but the associated costs of training, equipment, wear and tear, standard processing, yadda, yadda...

 

Chances are the final number had more to do with what some bean counter came up with than with actual operational costs.

[+Team Cotati]

I always found it funny when people complain about the cost in man hours for police or fire response when we aren't getting paid anymore to respond to that scene than a fender bender. The only way it would cost more is if reserves or off duty were called in. Of course using the x-ray would be an extra expense, but everybody else is still getting paid the same.

 

I think that you have hit on a really great idea.

 

Let's just reduce fire and police responder staff by oh let's say 30% and if it turns out that that isn't adequate, hire 'em back until the desired coverage is achieved.

 

That, or the fire and police planners have done onefheckofajob in accounting for 'chasing their butt time'.

Maybe they could take fewer/shorter coffee breaks, eh?

 

Or hire you as a consultant.

Edited August 13, 2010 by Team Cotati

[+Castle Mischief]

I always found it funny when people complain about the cost in man hours for police or fire response when we aren't getting paid anymore to respond to that scene than a fender bender. The only way it would cost more is if reserves or off duty were called in. Of course using the x-ray would be an extra expense, but everybody else is still getting paid the same.

 

I think that you have hit on a really great idea.

 

Let's just reduce fire and police responder staff by oh let's say 30% and if it turns out that that isn't adequate, hire 'em back until the desired coverage is achieved.

 

That, or the fire and police planners have done onfheckofajob in accounting for 'chasing their butt time'.

Maybe they could take fewer/shorter coffee breaks, eh?

 

I think you've completely misinterpreted the post that you quoted and you missed the part where he mentions that he's either a cop or a first responder.

[+buzzy_cacher]

kideakeys must look like pipe bombs because the bombers got called out didnt they?

 

Pipe bomb

 

 

Cache in question

 

 

I don't really see a resembelance.

 

However, if I were a muggle and found the cache I might have done something, but not call the bomb squad. If I was a muggle and saw someone place the cache, I might have done something, perhaps call the bomb squad. Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose.

[+Team Cotati]

kideakeys must look like pipe bombs because the bombers got called out didnt they?

 

Pipe bomb

 

 

Cache in question

 

 

I don't really see a resembelance.

 

However, if I were a muggle and found the cache I might have done something, but not call the bomb squad. If I was a muggle and saw someone place the cache, I might have done something, perhaps call the bomb squad. Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose.

 

What's the phone number for the Bomb Squad?

[+Lil Devil]

No wonder I DNF'd that cache a couple of years ago. I was looking on the sculpture in the middle of the walkway, instead of on the building supports

[+roziecakes]

"Halsey encouraged future participants to refrain from taping caches to pipes or a building's support structure because law enforcement personnel will consider them suspicious."

 

What an outrageous and silly idea.

 

I agree with that. Something duct-taped to part of the building probably looks REALLY bad.

Actually, that was the thing that threw me when I first read the article... I have never, ever seen a cache duct-taped to anything. But apparently this one was (assuming the reporter got the facts right, and we know they always do)

 

No, you and GeoGeeBee are correct, I've never ever seen a cache duct taped to anything... the reporter may indeed have gotten it wrong. When I said what I did, I wasn't agreeing that the cache in question was actually duct taped, but I was agreeing that any cache that was duct taped to a pole would indeed look really bad. Suppose I could have been more clear.

 

(Wow, that was quite a sentence, I hope I made sense there).

Edited August 13, 2010 by nymphnsatyr

[+Charlie Fingers]

 

I think that you have hit on a really great idea.

 

Let's just reduce fire and police responder staff by oh let's say 30% and if it turns out that that isn't adequate, hire 'em back until the desired coverage is achieved.

 

That, or the fire and police planners have done onefheckofajob in accounting for 'chasing their butt time'.

Maybe they could take fewer/shorter coffee breaks, eh?

 

Or hire you as a consultant.

 

You must have quoted the wrong post because what you wrote pertains to nothing in that post. Now days there is no "chasing your butt time" since on board lap tops account for every minute of your shift and where you were. The laptops make it easy to record a business check, a stationary radar run, a red light watch, a civilian requested extra patrol, lunch, and even an 'out at the jail' dropping of one of the regulars. Road supervisors have ready access to where all their little indians are.

 

Or are you one of those concerned citizens that like to quote to us now and then that "Well, I pay your salary." to which I answer "Well, then can I have a raise?"

[knowschad]

Or are you one of those concerned citizens that like to quote to us now and then that "Well, I pay your salary." to which I answer "Well, then can I have a raise?"

We'll bring it up at the next election, OK?

[+Charlie Fingers]

I just want a raise not a street named after me. (Though 'Fingers Fairway' has a nice ring to it.)

[+Coldgears]

Check out this cache, it's almost just as bad.