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Police interception


Team GeoCan

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As a matter of fact, just yesterday I stopped for a multi placed with permission at a Fruit/Vegetable stand. The teenaged girl working there looked at me like I was from Pluto when I told her I was there for the Geocache. I could tell I made her uncomfortable, and I beat feet right out of there. All the while expecting to get pulled over by a squad car. :(

OTOH, if you're ever in Cozumel, Danny will probably have you taken care of before you can even open your mouth, unless he's got customers at the bar :sad:

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wow, never thought of that, I've hidden a cache in what could be considered a pipe bomb. But they cant blow it up as I have the permission from the business owner as its placed inside their flag holder outdoors.

 

Don't bet on that.

Agreed.

 

When there is a "suspicious package" report it is taken very seriously by the police. It is examined and if they can't readily determine that it is harmless it will probably be blown up.

 

They WILL NOT take the time to canvass the nearby businesses and homes or call the school principal to see if it is the package is there by design. Real bombs will often have a timer or are triggered by a cell phone call. The longer the delay in deactivating the device, the increased chance there is for harm.

 

Even if the likelihood of a package being dangerous is low, the police will want to end the situation quickly to get the area back to 'normal'.

 

There is nothing magical about getting permission that will protect a cache in a situation like this.

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wow, never thought of that, I've hidden a cache in what could be considered a pipe bomb. But they cant blow it up as I have the permission from the business owner as its placed inside their flag holder outdoors.

 

Don't bet on that.

Agreed.

 

When there is a "suspicious package" report it is taken very seriously by the police. It is examined and if they can't readily determine that it is harmless it will probably be blown up.

 

They WILL NOT take the time to canvass the nearby businesses and homes or call the school principal to see if it is the package is there by design. Real bombs will often have a timer or are triggered by a cell phone call. The longer the delay in deactivating the device, the increased chance there is for harm.

 

Even if the likelihood of a package being dangerous is low, the police will want to end the situation quickly to get the area back to 'normal'.

 

There is nothing magical about getting permission that will protect a cache in a situation like this.

 

And if you don't think this is true remember, even a DMV traffic counter was once detonated. :sad:

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And if you don't think this is true remember, even a DMV traffic counter was once detonated. :sad:

 

The police here in Durham, NC once shut down I-40 for an entire afternoon while the bomb squad investigated a foam swimming-pool noodle.

 

Too funny!! I'd love to see the police blotter on that call! North Carolina again, huh?

 

I don't have the police blotter, but here's a local news story:

 

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7884385/

 

And I did exaggerate a bit. The foam noodle had some duct tape on it, making it much more scary looking.

 

"The device turned out to not be an explosive device. It appears to be some foam that was wrapped up together, possibly something that fell off of a vehicle or something," D.C. Allen of the Durham Police Department said during a news conference.

 

More relevant to the conversation is this quote:

 

"You can not get that kind of information and not act upon it," he said.

 

In other words, if someone thinks an object looks suspicious and calls it in, the police will act -- even if it is just a CYA.

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I was questioned by security today. Said my vehicle should not have been parked where it was. I argued the fact that it was fine where it was parked. It was when I showed HIM MY POLICE ID that he gave in and agreed it was fine. Then I told him what he was doing and we shared a laugh and I still had a DNF. lol

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More importantly, what is I see the bomb squad blow it up but as a result am unable to sign the log book, can I still log a find or will it have to be DNF?

 

If they blow it up, you should log it right away. None of the purists would be able to prove that you didnt sign it. :sad:

I believe us 'puritans' would say that you would need to find a remaining scrap of the log and sign that. The cache owner will then need to up difficulty rating to at least a 2.5. But, whatever you do, don't file a 'Needs Archiving' until you've contacted the CO. :(

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More importantly, what is I see the bomb squad blow it up but as a result am unable to sign the log book, can I still log a find or will it have to be DNF?
Well, if you actually see them blow it up, then you may be too late. But if you get there early enough, you can always step in there and ask them if you can sign it before they blow it to smithereens.
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More importantly, what is I see the bomb squad blow it up but as a result am unable to sign the log book, can I still log a find or will it have to be DNF?
Well, if you actually see them blow it up, then you may be too late. But if you get there early enough, you can always step in there and ask them if you can sign it before they blow it to smithereens.

 

 

Yeah, that would be good.

 

I'm picturing this:

 

Bomb squad in full padded uniforms

 

bomb detonation unit

 

fire trucks, cop cars with lights flashing lighting up the whole area like a disco.

 

Cops ducked behind their cars.

 

Crazed geocacher comes running up grabbing the cache...

 

"WAIT!!! I HAVE TO SIGN THAT FIRST!!!"

 

:):sad::(B)

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wow, never thought of that, I've hidden a cache in what could be considered a pipe bomb. But they cant blow it up as I have the permission from the business owner as its placed inside their flag holder outdoors.

 

Don't bet on that.

When there is a "suspicious package" report it is taken very seriously by the police. It is examined and if they can't readily determine that it is harmless it will probably be blown up.

<snip>

There is nothing magical about getting permission that will protect a cache in a situation like this.

 

And if you don't think this is true remember, even a DMV traffic counter was once detonated. :sad:

IIRC, some years back there was a story about a cacher who was caching with his young daughter. The owner of the (ice cream stand?) business had given permission, but the young lady behind the counter didn't know about it. She saw him put an ammo can under the side-tracked train car they used as part of the business and called the cops. Miles away, they ran him down and questioned him. They then had him drive back to the scene and explain what he was doing. Then the bomb squad blew the cache up, despite him telling them he would be happy to go open it and show them what was in it.

 

IIRC, that is. :(

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We've yet to earn our spurs as far as this goes. Not in any hurry to do so. Fortunately, we have (at least) one of Montgoemry's Finest as a staunch member of the local caching community, so if it happens locally I can give them a name and a badge number to call for clarification.

 

This thread reminds me of a gutsy cache series in Luxembourg, "Bommeleer Attack." There was a bomber in the 80s who stole a bunch of TNT and went around blowing up power lines and other targets. He/she/they sent notes to the press and police calling themselves the "Bommeleer" and demanding, I believe, $10 million US. 25 years later, the bomber is still at large.

 

There are 2 (used to be 4) caches hidden at sites of the bombing attacks. I haven't seen any logs about people being questioned for caching at the scene of the old crimes, but I bet it's happened.

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Friends and I were approached by two LEOs. One saw the GPSr and immediately exclaimed "geocaching!". His partner had no clue, so we explained and showed him the nearby small cache. They told us to watch out for dirty needles. One other time I was followed in my car after having found a cache. I think he was running my plates, but when nothing came up, went on his way.

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I was signing an LPC that was right across from a pre-school.

 

A cop pulled up and parked right in front of me. He just stared straight ahead while I was out his left side.

 

I took my time, signed the cache and replaced it.

 

I lifted my GPS where he could see it and deleted the coords.

 

I then walked out into the small driveway next to his car and walked back to my car.

 

Not a word or anything out of him.

 

Maybe he just hadn't found that one yet. :(

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