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Bomb scare Wetherby over internet treasure hunt box


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I think the police acted properly, café owner spots someone acting suspiciously and hiding an object under a planter in a public place.

 

Was permission sought from and granted by the landowner before this cache was placed? Was a courtesy call made to the café owner to let them know a cache had been placed outside their front door? Was placing a cache under a planter in a public area a good idea? It's also possible that the planter is not a permanent fixture and might be moved in the winter.

 

John

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I think the police acted properly, café owner spots someone acting suspiciously and hiding an object under a planter in a public place.

 

Was permission sought from and granted by the landowner before this cache was placed? Was a courtesy call made to the café owner to let them know a cache had been placed outside their front door? Was placing a cache under a planter in a public area a good idea? It's also possible that the planter is not a permanent fixture and might be moved in the winter.

 

John

 

+1

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Following multiple requests for some form of Identification, I have edited/knocked up this quickly:

 

blackandwhite.png

 

There are also multiple other similar designs on this page.

 

And a terrorist wouldn't wear one? If you see someone wearing one of those and planting a suspicious package you're going to take that badge as read?

 

Just like you could disguise a bomb as a geocache you could disguise a bomber as a geocacher.

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Anybody want to create a virtual cache "Wetherby Shambles II" - you have to take a photo of yourself in Karen's cafe to claim the find? You may want to ask her permission first, but I am sure she would want the publicity/business.

Edited by JDot67
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What I don't get, is how blowing up a suspected bomb with something like a shotgun blast is a 'controlled explosion'. What happens when you do that to a real bomb? I'm sure they must know what they are doing but it seems a bit odd.

 

"Cut the blue wire"

"No, it's the red wire"

"Let's just fire a gun at it"

Edited by insx
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What I don't get, is how blowing up a suspected bomb with something like a shotgun blast is a 'controlled explosion'. What happens when you do that to a real bomb? I'm sure they must know what they are doing but it seems a bit odd.

 

"Cut the blue wire"

"No, it's the red wire"

"Let's just fire a gun at it"

 

A Controlled Explosion is a "Render Safe Procedure" this can be done in a variety of ways, including a jet of extremely high pressure water , the purpose of which is to "disrupt" the explosives and detonator. Without triggering the actual explosives.

 

Basically the blast breaks the IED-Improvised Explosive Device into pieces, separating the detonator components into pieces and away from the explosive component.

 

The whole aim it to make the IED safe for the EOD -Explosive Ordnance Officer, to go forward and complete the Render Safe, reducing the risks to the EOD.It is a technique which was helped developed by the British Army whist they were serving in NI. In fact the Wheel Barrow remote controlled Device used, is a development of those developed for EOD work in NI (the Wheel Barrow nickname comes from the fact that the very first ones, actually used wheel barrow frames :laughing:)

 

Deci

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On the one hand, I can see why a muggle might get suspicious about spotting someone hiding something in a public area. But on the other hand, the police have said that they're familiar with geocaching, know what it is and what it involves. As long as it was properly labelled etc, surely there shouldn't have been any need for all this hoo-ha?

 

I've had a go at a bumper sticker type thing - might get one made to stick on my car!

 

2mryyqd.jpg

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I'm ex MoD and worked in counter-terrorism (but I can't go into details or I will have to kill you all :o )

Being in the UK we are faced with a unique problem - it wasn't that long ago we had problems with the dissident IRA, and unfortunately their bombs were often in a sandwich box left hidden or placed under things - they used other devices larger and smaller but the tupperware box was the most popular.

 

Secondly we are also dealing with 'stupid' public. They see the TV/Hollywood portrayals of cliche bombs which are often black with wires sticking out. In reality they rarely look like this, but the law of sod is often in operation and the public will react only naturally to what they perceive to be a suspicious device.

 

I have also watched urban cachers in action - not all are discrete or careful, and I've seen two retrieving a cache with reckless abandon seemingly blissfully unaware that passers by have actually noticed what they are doing - with humans being nosey so and so they just can't resist returning to the spot later to see what you have re-hidden.

 

Now our terror alert is on high due to a new threat from Islamists. Although their methods differ to the IRA, the police and terrorist forces cannot take a chance and must respond to every phonecall a member of the public makes, no matter how trivial. If they don't and it turns out to be genuine...well...

 

So, what way forward? I can't place or get out to cache as much as I would like, but I do have an urban cache placed in a very busy spot in my local city. I actually like urban caches as they present an additional challenge and make a dull trip into a town or city more interesting. I don't think we should stop, instead people should stop and think before placing a new cache. Does the spot offer something interesting in its past/to look at? Is it very busy during opening hours? Can cars park nearby without raising the suspicions of the local police? Naturally the old hands to caching know this, but it seems a lot of recent newbies are so keen to place their own they often overlook these basic details. I spent ages looking for one cache that turned out was placed by a nursery, who rang the police because I was 'lurking'. The Reviewers don't know the area so its common courtesy to help them out by applying your common sense.

 

I can't offer concrete advice, but I do think in the case of urban caches we should not place anything bigger than a micro or a nano. If its in a park which you can visit during quiet times then yes, place something bigger. If its outside a shop or cafe pop in and ask if they are fine with it, emphasising the boost to their custom from cachers. I did this with one of mine and the people have told me they have seen an increase in visitors. Show them the container too - then they can reassure any nervous muggles who may have spotted any odd behavior. I've also met a cacher who had a high-vis top made with 'Geocacher' written on the back. He said he found it made people less nervous when he wandered around with a GPS. I'm thinking of getting one for myself for the same reason as I cache via motorbike.

 

I do think we should encourage every localised policeforce to open an account with Groundspeak - this way should they receive the dreaded phonecall they can quickly pull up the local map and rule out any caches. Also perhaps printing off one of the Groundspeak leaflets and leaving it with your local station might be handy in lieu to what happened in Yorkshire. I can't comment on how they responded in this case, but I have a feeling that 'nothing much else exciting happens' and they got a little excited... :ph34r:

 

Hope I didn't bore you with my penny's worth *plink*

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I can imagine it now... official Police geocachers in yellow vests trying to solve a multicache puzzle to figure out if a nearby tupperware box is a geocache or a bomb.

 

Love it! that really made me giggle!!

 

But I hope that when they find them, they dont squirt water at them all, cos the logs will be all wet!

Edited by Ubernoobs
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Anybody want to create a virtual cache "Wetherby Shambles II" - you have to take a photo of yourself in Karen's cafe to claim the find? You may want to ask her permission first, but I am sure she would want the publicity/business.

 

Or even better take a pic of u pointing at the planter with a :o on your face....that would be sooo cool :)

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I can imagine it now... official Police geocachers in yellow vests trying to solve a multicache puzzle to figure out if a nearby tupperware box is a geocache or a bomb.

 

Love it! that really made me giggle!!

 

But I hope that when they find them, they dont squirt water at them all, cos the logs will be all wet!

 

You may laugh at the thought, but I do know two policemen who now cache during their breaks after I introduced them to caching :P

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I do think we should encourage every localised policeforce to open an account with Groundspeak - this way should they receive the dreaded phonecall they can quickly pull up the local map and rule out any caches. Also perhaps printing off one of the Groundspeak leaflets and leaving it with your local station might be handy in lieu to what happened in Yorkshire. I can't comment on how they responded in this case, but I have a feeling that 'nothing much else exciting happens' and they got a little excited... :ph34r:

 

Good advice in this post regarding placing urban caches, although I'm not a big fan of nanos when a bigger box could have been hidden.

 

Problem with police using GC.com to eliminate a possible bomb as a geocache when a muggle rings them up is the devious terrorist could replace a known geocache with a bomb. They can get to GC.com too.

 

The police would still have to treat it as a possible bomb as the risk of dismissing it as a geocache and being wrong would be too great.

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Had a very positive meeting today with Insp. Griffiths at Wetherby Police Station. Since the incident everyone at the station is now aware of our hobby and I understand the original reaction to caching in the area from the police has mellowed somewhat. I have offered to provide a briefing document for West Yorkshire Police on Geocaching with links to the main caching websites. The intention is that on receiving a report of a suspicious package one line of enquiry will be to check online to see if there is a cache located at the spot. We realise this isn't foolproof but it may reduce the number of future false alarms and is better than a file of paper documents / cache page printouts in a cupboard somewhere.

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I was the cache owner. As soon as I became aware of the suspect package alert, I phoned the police to identify myself as the owner and the cache as innocuous.

 

Today the police came to visit me. I have got off lightly but less so than the poor Geocacher who visited the cache yesterday and was arrested. When I asked as to his fate, the policeman said it would be wrong to tell me what had happened to him but that he had been dealt with without going to court, but it would likely affect his future career. Read into that what you will.

 

According to the BBC news (link here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14039229) he received a police caution. On what basis remains unclear. Why someone's career should be affected by a police caution for nothing more than a harmless sport also remains unclear.

 

The police also got me to show all other geocaches in the area. They then instructed me to pass on the following message to everybody in the area with caches on or near the A1:

 

"Sergeant Bilton - The device in Wetherby caused massive disruption for a period of about 4 hours. An estimated emergency services bill is around £35,000, not including loss of revenue for businesses who had to shut for most of the day. I can see from the website there are several next to or close to the A1. These need to be removed ASAP. If you wish to discuss it with me by all means please contact me at Wetherby police station on 0113 2855374."

 

This is a grotesque overreaction. If the Metropolitan Police can come to arrangements to allow caches to be placed within the SW1 postcode area I'm sure the Wetherby Police can figure a way to handle caches in less sensitive areas.

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I am really surprised by the way this has been handled by West Yorkshire Police and the paranoid knee jerk repsponse of requests for cache removal along the route of the A1. Over the years I have been stopped by Police officers several times in and around Leeds (who are part of the same force !) As soon as you say 'I'm geocaching, It's like a modern day treasure hunt using a GPS', the PC's normally already know what it is and depart to let you go about your buisiness. I was even quizzed by Homeland Security whilst searching for a cache in Washington DC and as soon as I said Geocaching everything was fine and friendly and he got back in his car and let me find the cache in peace ..

 

Likewise, a few weeks back I was caching in London with a friend and we were approached by a couple of police officers who asked what we were doing. We explained about geocaching and they asked why we were wearing hi-vis tops so we pointed out we were cycling (they might have deduced that from the fact there were two of us and two bikes, but never mind...). Next they asked if we'd seen anything unusual (we hadn't) so they went on their way. THey were obviously looking for something, probably not a film pot.

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Had a very positive meeting today with Insp. Griffiths at Wetherby Police Station. Since the incident everyone at the station is now aware of our hobby and I understand the original reaction to caching in the area from the police has mellowed somewhat. I have offered to provide a briefing document for West Yorkshire Police on Geocaching with links to the main caching websites. The intention is that on receiving a report of a suspicious package one line of enquiry will be to check online to see if there is a cache located at the spot. We realise this isn't foolproof but it may reduce the number of future false alarms and is better than a file of paper documents / cache page printouts in a cupboard somewhere.

 

Thanks for speaking to the police and getting sorted. Much appreciated! Im off to enable my caches now! :D

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So where they got "Geocaching Coach" from is beyond me. Honestly :laughing:

I've got this vision of Deci leading a team of newbies through the looking for caches.

 

"You've got 30 seconds to sign the log, do the swaps and rehide the cache"

"You call that a fair swap?!!! get down and give me 20"

"You call that hidden? A blind monkey could see it from a mile away, 5 circuits of the woods carrying a full ammo box above your heads"

 

:laughing: Oh I pictured all that too! :laughing:

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I have a few urban hides at interesting sites in Brighton. Makes me wonder if i should archive them...or at least should there be a requirement to get permission from the local police force as well as the land owner??

 

The requirement that you tick when you publish the cache is that the cache has "adequate permission", so if you think that in your case "adequate" includes getting permission from the Police then you should do it without being explicitly told to do so. As for geocaching as a whole, then the Police are soon going to get bored of being asked for permission for a plastic box in the middle of the moors, or half way up mountains so I don't think that's necessary at all.

 

Agree 100%. The BBC TV item with the copper looking very uncomfortable suggested that geocachers made contact and left their phone numbers with the police. Like they've got better things to do and what next a geocachers offenders register!

 

I made the suggestion that we turn Wetherby Shambles into a virtual cache and then all have a cup of tea in the cafe. This was removed by the censor!

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Funnily enough a part on the editing suit floor, in reply to being asked if information about Geocaching is being disseminated enough, was me mentioning the fact that at the weekend I had acted as Walk Leader (came as a surprise, as I got a request for help on Wednesday. And went to provide support) for Conwy Walking Week's Introduction to Geocaching, which had around 20 muggles attending. That was up at the Sychnant *Pass

 

As for "546 finds" well I'm guessing it is over 600, if I ever catch up with logging finds, from Perth, Oxford, Sale and several other occasions :laughing:. Mind you it can take me 2 years or more to log a find or 3 :laughing:

 

But if you want prolific, my Published Logs page takes several minutes to load :yikes: I'm working hard to reach 40,000 :yikes: hopefully by the Welsh mega, if not before I will cross the magic line just after it :laughing: I was considering giving the Lucky Owner of my 40,000th published cache a little gift, a Gold Deci Geocoin. To be presented at the Mega If I do break the barrier beforehand, or a follow up event if not.

 

Deci

 

* oh and Synchant is pronounced Suchnant not Sicknant as one Radio reporter called it :laughing:

 

Funny - your profile says 17 finds??

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Had a very positive meeting today with Insp. Griffiths at Wetherby Police Station. Since the incident everyone at the station is now aware of our hobby and I understand the original reaction to caching in the area from the police has mellowed somewhat. I have offered to provide a briefing document for West Yorkshire Police on Geocaching with links to the main caching websites. The intention is that on receiving a report of a suspicious package one line of enquiry will be to check online to see if there is a cache located at the spot. We realise this isn't foolproof but it may reduce the number of future false alarms and is better than a file of paper documents / cache page printouts in a cupboard somewhere.

Well done! Exactly what I was hoping for.

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Over 20 minutes of filming (in the car park of the BBC's Manchester Studio :laughing:) spread over 5 questions. And the cut me down to the one point where I stuttered :anicute:

 

The UK/Ireland Reviewers working closely with the GAGB and Groundspeak, are working on creating a process to disseminate information about Geocaching through all levels of all Police forces in the UK. This will take time to put the package together, so that there is no extended cost to our monetary restricted Police Forces. Plus time to allow for initial contact and for that contact to be firmed up.

 

What has happened, is not being ignored, and we are trying to move things forward in a way which has minimal impact for both the Geocaching Community and also the Police Service who have a extremely impossible job to do, one being made harder daily by having funding reduced.

 

Oh and on arriving back home from Manchester, I ended up doing a recorded interview with BBC Radio Humberside :anicute:. I don't know when that will be broadcast, but was informed it will be available on the net. So hopefully someone will get a copy of another example of me making a pratt of myself :laughing: and post it to You Tube, especially as I know that Colin would like to add a link in his next UKGCPodcacast :laughing:

 

Deci :anicute:

 

PS: at the start of filming on camera I was asked to identify myself. I stated I was Dave Palmer, Deceangi Volunteer UK Reviewer Geocaching.com, which is owned by Groundspeak. So where they got "Geocaching Coach" from is beyond me. Honestly :laughing:

 

With reference to a post you made on 24 February 2011 - 04:28 PM, in a topic that is now locked ( hence I cannot quote in the normal manner ) with title: 'Is this a new thin end of the wedge? Bristol area' and with reference to an email, to which I never received a reply.....

 

'The advice in the Topic that you can not condone, happened to be formulated after the UK Reviewers carefully discussed it. One of those Reviewers being a Serving Police Officer.

Deci'

 

.... maybe the reviewer to which you refer may be a good starting point for your proposal document?.....

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Funny - your profile says 17 finds??

 

That's using his reviewer title. He also has an alter ego as "Mancunian Pyrocacher"

 

Honesty is the best policy I always say!

All reviewers work under a seperate account name therfore the only finds that they show on their reviewer account will be the events they attend as a reviewer.

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Funny - your profile says 17 finds??

 

That's using his reviewer title. He also has an alter ego as "Mancunian Pyrocacher"

 

Honesty is the best policy I always say!

All reviewers work under a seperate account name therfore the only finds that they show on their reviewer account will be the events they attend as a reviewer.

 

This should be made clearer otherwise it is misleading

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Had a very positive meeting today with Insp. Griffiths at Wetherby Police Station. Since the incident everyone at the station is now aware of our hobby and I understand the original reaction to caching in the area from the police has mellowed somewhat. I have offered to provide a briefing document for West Yorkshire Police on Geocaching with links to the main caching websites. The intention is that on receiving a report of a suspicious package one line of enquiry will be to check online to see if there is a cache located at the spot. We realise this isn't foolproof but it may reduce the number of future false alarms and is better than a file of paper documents / cache page printouts in a cupboard somewhere.

 

Thank You, that is greatly appreciated

 

Funnily enough a part on the editing suit floor, in reply to being asked if information about Geocaching is being disseminated enough, was me mentioning the fact that at the weekend I had acted as Walk Leader (came as a surprise, as I got a request for help on Wednesday. And went to provide support) for Conwy Walking Week's Introduction to Geocaching, which had around 20 muggles attending. That was up at the Sychnant *Pass

 

As for "546 finds" well I'm guessing it is over 600, if I ever catch up with logging finds, from Perth, Oxford, Sale and several other occasions :laughing:. Mind you it can take me 2 years or more to log a find or 3 :laughing:

 

But if you want prolific, my Published Logs page takes several minutes to load :yikes: I'm working hard to reach 40,000 :yikes: hopefully by the Welsh mega, if not before I will cross the magic line just after it :laughing: I was considering giving the Lucky Owner of my 40,000th published cache a little gift, a Gold Deci Geocoin. To be presented at the Mega If I do break the barrier beforehand, or a follow up event if not.

 

Deci

 

* oh and Synchant is pronounced Suchnant not Sicknant as one Radio reporter called it :laughing:

 

Funny - your profile says 17 finds??

 

If you had waited for a reply to your email and not the 3 hours you did before demanding a reply off me. I would have taken the time to explain that majority of Reviewers have 2 accounts. Reviewer and Member. I would also have fully explained why all the logs after the Archive log were deleted. A action which not only had the support of my colleagues, but also the Cache Owner! Also again for your information the reason I travelled to Manchester from North Wales for the BBC Interview, was because no one from Yorkshire was apparently willing to appear on camera, for fear of the implications that interview might create. I was asked at 09:00 and was in Manchester for 12:00, something which required the support of my family to do so. As to why? I was trying to avoid the report being one sided, as the reporter had informed my that he was interviewing a senior Police Officer in Leeds that afternoon. The short clip you saw, is the remains of over 20 minutes filming.

 

As for you latest comment, if you'd taken the time to search this forum! You would have found multiple posts which give both my Reviewed ID and Player ID, since becoming a Reviewer and initially playing a Guess Who I Am, with the community. Something which we do when all new UK Reviewers come on board, you will find that I have been completely open about both accounts. In fact the last post with both of my Geocaching ID's and First name, also has the same information for all the then current UK Reviewers, who are also open and above board about both identities.

 

I also give you public permission to post the 3 emails you have sent me today, to this forum!

 

Over 20 minutes of filming (in the car park of the BBC's Manchester Studio :laughing:) spread over 5 questions. And the cut me down to the one point where I stuttered :anicute:

 

The UK/Ireland Reviewers working closely with the GAGB and Groundspeak, are working on creating a process to disseminate information about Geocaching through all levels of all Police forces in the UK. This will take time to put the package together, so that there is no extended cost to our monetary restricted Police Forces. Plus time to allow for initial contact and for that contact to be firmed up.

 

What has happened, is not being ignored, and we are trying to move things forward in a way which has minimal impact for both the Geocaching Community and also the Police Service who have a extremely impossible job to do, one being made harder daily by having funding reduced.

 

Oh and on arriving back home from Manchester, I ended up doing a recorded interview with BBC Radio Humberside :anicute:. I don't know when that will be broadcast, but was informed it will be available on the net. So hopefully someone will get a copy of another example of me making a pratt of myself :laughing: and post it to You Tube, especially as I know that Colin would like to add a link in his next UKGCPodcacast :laughing:

 

Deci :anicute:

 

PS: at the start of filming on camera I was asked to identify myself. I stated I was Dave Palmer, Deceangi Volunteer UK Reviewer Geocaching.com, which is owned by Groundspeak. So where they got "Geocaching Coach" from is beyond me. Honestly :laughing:

 

With reference to a post you made on 24 February 2011 - 04:28 PM, in a topic that is now locked ( hence I cannot quote in the normal manner ) with title: 'Is this a new thin end of the wedge? Bristol area' and with reference to an email, to which I never received a reply.....

 

'The advice in the Topic that you can not condone, happened to be formulated after the UK Reviewers carefully discussed it. One of those Reviewers being a Serving Police Officer.

Deci'

 

.... maybe the reviewer to which you refer may be a good starting point for your proposal document?.....

 

FYI all the UK/Ireland Reviewers and the GAGB will be involved in the preparation of the Document.

 

FYI I currently have a 150 email back log, I have not read personal non Geocaching Emails since January so have a huge personal email backlog to catch up on. I have been prioritising the Reviewing of caches before actioning emails, before that I prioritise the most import responsibility I have in my life (yes something with a higher priority than Reviewing caches and providing support to Geocachers) that of being Carer to my Spouse and 2 Teenage Children (one of whom suffers from CFS), My spouse's health having severely deteriorated over the last 18 months, has seen her have 2 operations within that period. Yet up to January I was Juggling everything and keeping on top of all. Last night instead of Reviewing the 30/40 caches waiting for me, I took the night off to clear out some of the email backlog, which after several hours work reduced it to the 150 email back log. Despite that, I've got UK Geocachers demanding I reply to a email they sent just 3 hours before.

 

Putting in on average 3-4 hours, 7 days per week just Reviewing caches on a unpaid Volunteer Basis. Means some things have to be prioritised. Emails have been the bottom priority. I personally come into the forums as a escape during a period Reviewing caches, so that when I return to the queue and the angst that can be thrown at Reviewers for a variety of reasons. So that I deal with each cache submission in a professional manner

 

If you or anyone else has any complaints about the way I work as a Reviewer then please make a Formal Complaint to Groundspeak using the @geocaching.com email address or the on-line reporting tool selecting "Yes" for urgent and "Geocache Appeals" for category. I will happily accept if Groundspeak decide to remove me as a Volunteer Reviewer!

 

Deci

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Deci i think u did a great job on the TV and to work for free just so all these people (who are new to caching) can put out these rubbish caches that they think are brilliant....well i salute u dude....and could never understand the ammount of work you actually do on a day to day basis.....U ROCK B)

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I've just quickly read through all the posts and was initially concerned with what appears to be a heavy handed approach to the situation and the cacher who found the container, but there maybe a reason for this situation.

I work for an airline and security is strict not only for passengers but also for the staff that work there. We all know that when passing through security and even when we are aboard the aircraft that there is a zero tollerance for jokes made about bombs and rightly so. If anyone does stupidly try to be funny they are imediately detained, and if you're mid flight the aircraft will divert to the nearest airport and you will be arrested and billed for the flights diversion.

Now I'm not saying this did happen at Wetherby, but it is possible and that is why the police reacted as they have been reported.

 

Just a thought...

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Funny - your profile says 17 finds??

 

That's using his reviewer title. He also has an alter ego as "Mancunian Pyrocacher"

 

Honesty is the best policy I always say!

All reviewers work under a seperate account name therfore the only finds that they show on their reviewer account will be the events they attend as a reviewer.

 

This should be made clearer otherwise it is misleading

 

It is clear if you spend any time looking!

 

The reviewers do a great job and I just wish everyone would give them a break!

 

Will the document be sent to every police force in the UK? If not please could I request a copy and I will pass it on to Sussex Police.

 

Many thanks for all your hard work guys

 

Chris

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So where they got "Geocaching Coach" from is beyond me. Honestly :laughing:

I've got this vision of Deci leading a team of newbies through the looking for caches.

 

"You've got 30 seconds to sign the log, do the swaps and rehide the cache"

"You call that a fair swap?!!! get down and give me 20"

"You call that hidden? A blind monkey could see it from a mile away, 5 circuits of the woods carrying a full ammo box above your heads"

 

:laughing: Oh I pictured all that too! :laughing:

And what makes you think he does not do that already? <shudder> :laughing:

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According to the BBC news (link here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14039229) he received a police caution. On what basis remains unclear. Why someone's career should be affected by a police caution for nothing more than a harmless sport also remains unclear.

 

Depends on his job. If I received a Police caution - for anything - I'd lose my level of security clearance and have to give up my current job. The same would apply to anyone in Government work, emergency services, armed forces and their civilian support services...and probably more that I haven't thought of.

 

All the same, unless there's more to this story than we've heard so far, I'm well surprised that the Police went as far as a caution. As others have said, the cacher was engaging in a legal activity and not actually causing any nuisance at all.

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I have 1st hand experienced a bomb scare, thankfully it was just that, a scare, back in the late 1990s a prank call was sent to my primary school claiming their was a bomb in the school, we were all evacuated and the police conducted a thorough search of the school. Of course, we all thought it was rather exciting, a bomb in the school- no more school.... a few years later with the terrorist attack of 9/11, the reality of the dangers of such events dawned on most of us, whilst others often asked "why terrorists would attack our town, there is nothing here?" simple, to cause terror.

 

I don't recall what was going through the minds of our perents/ gaurdians when they where told, no doubt they were very conserned, so I know how serious things like this are taken.

 

today, after such big terrorist attacks, people are highly suspicious, and it really is a case of better safe than sorry.

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whilst others often asked "why terrorists would attack our town, there is nothing here?"

.

.

.

today, after such big terrorist attacks, people are highly suspicious, and it really is a case of better safe than sorry.

 

Another couple of things to bear in mind when considering the Police/Army response is that Wetherby is near Catterick, a large army garrison; and we were coming up to the anniversary of the 07/07 London bombings so everyone would be on high alert in case there was another attack given the recent demise of Bin-Laden.

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I work for an airline and security is strict not only for passengers but also for the staff that work there. We all know that when passing through security and even when we are aboard the aircraft that there is a zero tollerance for jokes made about bombs and rightly so. If anyone does stupidly try to be funny they are imediately detained, and if you're mid flight the aircraft will divert to the nearest airport and you will be arrested and billed for the flights diversion.

Now I'm not saying this did happen at Wetherby, but it is possible and that is why the police reacted as they have been reported.

 

Just a thought...

 

Your not saying this happened at Wetherby? .... oh you lost me now. :huh:

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So where they got "Geocaching Coach" from is beyond me. Honestly :laughing:

I've got this vision of Deci leading a team of newbies through the looking for caches.

 

"You've got 30 seconds to sign the log, do the swaps and rehide the cache"

"You call that a fair swap?!!! get down and give me 20"

"You call that hidden? A blind monkey could see it from a mile away, 5 circuits of the woods carrying a full ammo box above your heads"

 

:laughing: Oh I pictured all that too! :laughing:

And what makes you think he does not do that already? <shudder> :laughing:

 

:laughing: Cheeky!

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Will the document be sent to every police force in the UK? If not please could I request a copy and I will pass it on to Sussex Police.

 

 

 

Yes, GAGB is handling the contact with other Police Forces. After discussion with Reviewers today about the processes needed to deal with incidents in the future, we'll be contacting Police Forces to put a standard approach in place.

 

Dave

(Chairman, GAGB)

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According to the BBC news (link here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14039229) he received a police caution. On what basis remains unclear. Why someone's career should be affected by a police caution for nothing more than a harmless sport also remains unclear.

 

Depends on his job. If I received a Police caution - for anything - I'd lose my level of security clearance and have to give up my current job. The same would apply to anyone in Government work, emergency services, armed forces and their civilian support services...and probably more that I haven't thought of.

 

Exactly. I'd imagine the world of finance would be much the same. Total loss of career is an insane price to expect someone to pay for undertaking a legal activity in good faith.

 

All the same, unless there's more to this story than we've heard so far, I'm well surprised that the Police went as far as a caution. As others have said, the cacher was engaging in a legal activity and not actually causing any nuisance at all.

 

I agree with the bolded part. Who knows what else there might be that the media is spinning or ignoring?

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today, after such big terrorist attacks, people are highly suspicious, and it really is a case of better safe than sorry.

 

Up to a point. If we're not careful we end up dismantling all of our hard-won freedoms and do the terrorists' job for them. As someone already said we are still free to park our cars in all sorts of places without anyone expecting to inspect our vehicle in case we hid something nefarious in the back of it.

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today, after such big terrorist attacks, people are highly suspicious, and it really is a case of better safe than sorry.

 

Up to a point. If we're not careful we end up dismantling all of our hard-won freedoms and do the terrorists' job for them. As someone already said we are still free to park our cars in all sorts of places without anyone expecting to inspect our vehicle in case we hid something nefarious in the back of it.

 

+1, or as someone else once put it:

 

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

 

- Benjamin Franklin

 

 

Though it's arguable that the terrorists already won - they changed our way of life and caused people to live in fear of terror and make decisions based upon that.

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As a relatively new Cacher (and a relatively new divorcee) I have been following this incident with interest.

I was introduced to Geocaching by a fellow work colleague and I started Geocaching as a way of going out and discovering interesting new places to walk with my children.

All was good. All was fine. Mostly centred around Yorkshire.

I chose local woodlands, 'off the beaten track', places we were going on holiday etc.

Places lacking in muggles.

We have now found places where caches have been hidden that we now go for walks around regularly.

It was a great way of spending a bit of quality time, going out for a walk, and finding some "treasure" to swap with them.

Since bitten by the Caching bug I have also found caches solo and with friends and have introduced Caching to College friends. (Sorry..but at least he put down the camera...lol)

Anyway...My point is...I have always avoided populated places... City and town caches.

No fun for me, no fun for my children.

What's the point of signing a piece of paper in the middle of muggle infested?

We don't want to visit our local <insert local supermarket name here> car park to sign a piece of paper in a micro or nano.

And we don't want to look 'furtive' or 'suspicious'. And we definitely don't want to be arrested!

Admittedly, we have had muggle encounters on our adventures, and we may have looked (to them) 'suspicious' but it has never been in an urban environment.

Fair enough...Lead us to interesting places, points of interest of your local town/city, we will visit and log.

It's always great to visit new and interesting places, but maybe just an appreciation is all it takes.

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