Cachers & cops

[+El Fartero]

We all have had close encounters with law enforcement. Usually they're not unpleasant, but there are exceptions. One of the cachers in our area was handcuffed by a local cop who found his activities suspicious. The cop had never heard of geocaching. It was over an hour before the cop was satisfied and the cacher was released.

 

We need to make an effort to make law enforcement aware of our game. Perhaps Groundspeak can help get the word out.

[+StarBrand]

Best bet is to make a visit to the local enforcement office with some Geocaching info or a brochure and just make sure they become "aware" of it.

[knowschad]

I have a tough time wrapping my brain around the fact that there are really cops out there that don't know what Geocaching is. It has been around for more than ten years! Your friend was actually handcuffed? Perhaps a LEO will speak to that, but it seems to me that the cop overreacted, probably felt threatened by the situation.

[+BMndFul]

We all have had close encounters with law enforcement. Usually they're not unpleasant, but there are exceptions. One of the cachers in our area was handcuffed by a local cop who found his activities suspicious. The cop had never heard of geocaching. It was over an hour before the cop was satisfied and the cacher was released.

 

We need to make an effort to make law enforcement aware of our game. Perhaps Groundspeak can help get the word out.

 

Huh... What is the probable cause? If the cacher is on public ground, then there is no problem as long as he is not breaking the law. I would be filing a complaint for unlawful detainment if they held me longer then a few minutes after seeing my gps and hearing my story. While I don't like the idea, but I understand if they would want to cuff me for their safety. I have been stopped by rent-a-cops while night caching. I admit roaming around at 9:00pm with a head lamp look suspicious, but I am not breaking the law. Most are fairly reasonable if you are respectful and provide a reasonable explanation. I am sure my age, appearance and reasonable tone has a lot to do with the lack of hassle.

[Andronicus]

I have had 3 encounters (all while caching with my Father-in-Law). Although one of the encounters started rather tense, it ended with "You need to head home". Which we did. I guess they were looking for a shooting suspect, helecopter and all. I had thought the helecopter was just being kind, providing light while we searched for the cache under a juniper bush. None of LEO encounters I have had included the LEO knowing what geocaching was.

 

Handcuffed for 1h? Wow, I would file some sort of complained.

 

(PS, just remembered my encounter with MPs on a military base (are they considered LEO?). One of the two knew what geocaching was.)

[Clan Riffster]

I have a tough time wrapping my brain around the fact that there are really cops out there that don't know what Geocaching is.

I recently went through an instructor techniques course. One day they had us give a 20 minute "class" (to the rest of the class), on a topic of our choice. I picked Geocaching, and of the 15 other students, all of which were veteran cops, only two had heard of it. Neither of those two really had an understanding of the game. I asked if anyone had ever heard of roque, and all I got was cricket sounds, and that game used to be in the Olympics. I thought I'd go a little more modern, and asked about curling, and only four cops knew what it was. There are a whole lot more folks who curl then there are folks who geocache, so having a significant portion of our population not know about our game no longer surprises me.

 

I guess being a cop doesn't automatically grant you omniscience with regards to quirky little hobbies...

 

I would be filing a complaint for unlawful detainment if they held me longer then a few minutes after seeing my gps and hearing my story.

The Supreme Court has ruled, more than once, that handcuffing a suspicious person, for the purpose of officer safety, is not a violation of their civil rights. Naturally, if you are into wasting the time, energy and resources of your local law enforcement agency, you can still file a complaint, but I wouldn't hold my breath on getting a ruling in your favor. Presumably they will be polite enough to not laugh in your face, opting instead to simply educate you on their policy, California law and the appropriate Federal rulings which have been instrumental in the creation of those laws/policies.

[knowschad]

I guess being a cop doesn't automatically grant you omniscience with regards to quirky little hobbies...

What if instead, it were a new credit card scam or designer drug? How do they learn about these quirky little hobbies?

[WashoeZephyr]

Haha, funny story about this, we used to have a cache in town called Hoofocker, it's the first time I'd ever had a run in with the police, this was in '07. The officer was surprised to find three middle aged women digging around in a big ammo can that was chained to a power pole. Apparently there had been some copper theft going on at the mobile home sales place next door. We explained what we were doing and he was very nice and let us pose in front of his car.

 

....wait it gets better!! 4 years later and some more urban expansion, some jacktard called in a suspicious object that allegedly had "explosive" symbols painted on it...it was the geocaching.com logo. Of course the bomb squad was called and they disposed of said cache. The police were well aware of it's existance. It had been in that location for 5 years! Here's the story of when they blew it up.

Edited November 17, 2011 by LostinReno

[Clan Riffster]

I guess being a cop doesn't automatically grant you omniscience with regards to quirky little hobbies...

What if instead, it were a new credit card scam or designer drug?

If there is a new issue which arises, and someone up the food chain feels it is work related, (such as a new credit card scam or designer drug), they let us know. This might be in the form of a class, if it's something that directly affects our job, (such as a recent ruling regarding photo lineups), or, on the other end of the spectrum, it could be in the form of a memo, passed down the chain. Or anywhere in between. For those things passed on in memos, I suspect that those cops who are interested in learning what the memo addresses will give them more scrutiny than those cops who are not interested.

 

I've been with Seminole County long before Dave buried his proverbial bucket.

I've never seen anything, from my agency, describing this hobby.

I am an advocate of correcting that.

 

How do they learn about these quirky little hobbies?

I guess that would depend on the cop, and the hobby...

I was told about this game by my wife.

The 15 "students" in my class were told about it by me.

I can't speak for the other cops out there.

 

Paddleboarding has recently taken on a lot of popularity around here.

My agency still hasn't made any official announcement about it.

[knowschad]

I guess being a cop doesn't automatically grant you omniscience with regards to quirky little hobbies...

What if instead, it were a new credit card scam or designer drug?

If there is a new issue which arises, and someone up the food chain feels it is work related, (such as a new credit card scam or designer drug or suspicious looking people lurking around with GPS devices), they let us know.

I do understand that I'm preaching to the choir, but I couldn't help but enhance what you said. Hope you don't mind my putting words in your mouth.

[+RThreeSonz]

OK. I get that the typical street cop may not have been made aware. But, why not minimal training about geocaches for the bomb squad folks?

 

Maybe someone with appropriate knowledge of that specialty should write a geocaching/letterboxing article for Bomb Squad Weekly or whatever the police demolition squad's professional trade magazine is. Also, these folks have to have a trade show & convention somewhere. A little outreach and a booth raffle for a GPSr or two from the vendor community couldn't hurt.

 

Just a thought.

[+RThreeSonz]

....wait it gets better!! 4 years later and some more urban expansion, some jacktard called in a suspicious object that allegedly had "explosive" symbols painted on it...it was the geocaching.com logo. Of course the bomb squad was called and they disposed of said cache. The police were well aware of it's existance. It had been in that location for 5 years! Here's the story of when they blew it up.

 

It looks like the Reno geocaching community has a solid sense of humor about the whole thing. Here are some links.

 

Original cache page http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCXN6R

Love the hint!

 

The memorial event/flash mob. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=028d02bd-2a36-49af-9fb4-a5efc0ab5b02

 

A TB who's last trip was likely at ballistic speed. http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?guid=73d1d699-313d-49f7-9ed8-db6c988bac77

 

The new memorial cache's page. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=4618227e-72bd-4e89-8d55-c9681e84ab4f Includes a link to the news story about the detonation. Gotta put this on my caching bucket list.

Edited November 17, 2011 by RThreeSonz

[Mr.Yuck]

OK. I get that the typical street cop may not have been made aware. But, why not minimal training about geocaches for the bomb squad folks?

 

Maybe someone with appropriate knowledge of that specialty should write a geocaching/letterboxing article for Bomb Squad Weekly or whatever the police demolition squad's professional trade magazine is. Also, these folks have to have a trade show & convention somewhere. A little outreach and a booth raffle for a GPSr or two from the vendor community couldn't hurt.

 

Just a thought.

 

Don't think it's going to happen, they're going to blow up first, and ask questions later. In one high profile case 2 or 3 years ago, a Green Bay, Wisconsin Firefighter who was an avid Geocacher (thousands of finds, if I remember correctly) was unable to convince his fellow City workers to not blow up a cache.

 

I think some people don't realize what an extremely fringe element we still are. 6,000,000 accounts world wide? And half them are just people signing up for a free account on the internet, and will never find or hide a cache.

 

Looks like this incident probably happened in the vicinity of Oneonta, N.Y. I'd sure like to know the details from our flatulence powered OP. I'm going to doubt this guy was halfway up a hill in a State Forest, and was in an urban setting in view of the general public.

[+RThreeSonz]

I think some people don't realize what an extremely fringe element we still are.

 

A quick visit to the forums can clear that right up.

[knowschad]

I think some people don't realize what an extremely fringe element we still are.

 

A quick visit to the forums can clear that right up.

 

Hey... wait a second....

[+Team Pixos]

OK. I get that the typical street cop may not have been made aware. But, why not minimal training about geocaches for the bomb squad folks?

 

Maybe someone with appropriate knowledge of that specialty should write a geocaching/letterboxing article for Bomb Squad Weekly or whatever the police demolition http://www.blackrapid.com/product/camera-strap/rs-w1/squad's professional trade magazine is. Also, these folks have to have a trade show & convention somewhere. A little outreach and a booth raffle for a GPSr or two from the vendor community couldn't hurt.

 

Just a thought.

 

And just when that is done some jacktard deliberately disguises a real bomb as a geocache and it gets ignored or wipes out the bomb squad.

[AZcachemeister]

OK, that's two 'jacktards' in one thread...this is going in my personal vocabulary!

 

Never had a bad LEO encounter...but I have been asked what I was up to.

[+kennethb53]

Last Christmas I was caching with my two sons (5 and13 at the time) near a shopping strip. A lil ol lady thought a 40 something man and two boys going into the woods near the store was suspicious. We went to another cache ( only 600 feet away!) and as I got out of the truck an officer drives up. He ask " are you doing that geo thing?" I told him yes. The second officer on scene recognized me from the license plate return ( I used to work in this City). I Have thought since then that I should teach a class about geocaching to area agencies.

[Clan Riffster]

But, why not minimal training about geocaches for the bomb squad folks?

from the inside looking out, I think you'd accomplish more by teaching the road cops. Consider the chain of events that results in a cache getting blown to smithereens. First, some nosy Nellie sees a cache, and having been fed a steady diet of paranoia from both the 'gubment' and the media, immediately dials 911, screeching like a harpy. As there is no cure for clueless twits, this stage in the process will likely always be with us. The second phase is the initial responder who gets dispatched to check out the so called suspicious object.. The initial responder will likely set the tone for the final resolution of the incident. If that officer knows about the hobby, the odds are better that, upon seeing a cache, s/he will decide that it does not warrant further action. Without that knowledge, the officer may decide that a bit of Tupperware in a shrub really is a threat, and forward the situation up the chain of command. If it makes it as far as EOD, the cache is probably doomed. The folks who end up in EOD get drawn there because they like blowing stuff up. To misquote a line from Terminator, "It's what they do! It's all they do!"

 

Step 1: Mark your cache clearly so Nosy Nellie will be less inclined to panic.

 

Step 2: Educate the first responders.

 

It surely can't hurt.

[Clan Riffster]

I guess being a cop doesn't automatically grant you omniscience with regards to quirky little hobbies...

What if instead, it were a new credit card scam or designer drug?

If there is a new issue which arises, and someone up the food chain feels it is work related, (such as a new credit card scam or designer drug or suspicious looking people lurking around with GPS devices), they let us know.

I do understand that I'm preaching to the choir, but I couldn't help but enhance what you said. Hope you don't mind my putting words in your mouth.

Not at all!

But suspicious looking folks poking around shrubbery is hardly a new phenominum.

The GPS might be kinda new though...

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I guess being a cop doesn't automatically grant you omniscience with regards to quirky little hobbies...

What if instead, it were a new credit card scam or designer drug?

If there is a new issue which arises, and someone up the food chain feels it is work related, (such as a new credit card scam or designer drug or suspicious looking people lurking around with GPS devices), they let us know.

I do understand that I'm preaching to the choir, but I couldn't help but enhance what you said. Hope you don't mind my putting words in your mouth.

Not at all!

But suspicious looking folks poking around shrubbery is hardly a new phenominum.

The GPS might be kinda new though...

 

I don't think I am especially suspicious looking but I can understand how my behavior while geocaching might look suspicious. The first time I encountered a LEO while geocaching I had gone to a small neighborhood park that has a wonderful unobstructed view over the town and one of the Finger Lakes. I had quickly found the cache, located in a crevice under a stone bench. I signed the log, replaced the container, then as I turned around to walk back to my car I noticed a LEO drive into the park. He stopped and waited for me to get back to my car, rolled down his window and asked, "what were you hiding under that bench?" I told him a bit about geocaching, showed him my GPS with the icon of the little treasure chest about 100 feet away. He just said, "sounds like fun, good luck with the next one" and sent me on my way.

[+TheLoneGrangers]

I personnally would have a problem with a LEO telling me to go home. I probably wouldn't say anything to the LEO, but "yes sir" and move on to the next cache.

[+JeepFreak81]

Caches that are in plain public view always give me a bit of anxiety and I'll often skip them, especially if there is an abundance of muggles about. I have a tendency to try really hard to not look suspicious and I think in doing so I probably look more suspicious...haha! Having the kiddies with me probably helps ease the panic though.

[+A & J Tooling]

Never been EOD but for many years I worked very closely with them and as stated above, they and others (like me) love to blow stuff up. It's a guy thing. I'd say for all the calls we responded to while I was overseas, we never had come across a item we felt needed to be blown up other then for the fact that they called, who are we to say 'no'?

 

We only went for unexploded munitions (rounds/bombs/projectiles that never went off). You wouldn't believe how many times we were called for other items. Thermos, beer bottle, diet coke can, tupperware, flashlights, you name it, if it didn't look natural in an open grassy area, we were called.

 

And you must remember, where I worked, EVERYONE had a basic understanding of the use of weapons and ammo. So most of these people should of known what was dangerous and what was not. But that is why they had jobs like what I did. Some people have no common sense.

 

And we blew everything up because if you just walk up and grab it and toss it in the back of your truck, some twit will write a very unflattering letter to your boss explaining how you endangered their lives and this letter will follow you in your career and keep you from the good butt kissing desk jobs. So you have to blow everything up you find.

[+The Jester]

OK. I get that the typical street cop may not have been made aware. But, why not minimal training about geocaches for the bomb squad folks?

 

Maybe someone with appropriate knowledge of that specialty should write a geocaching/letterboxing article for Bomb Squad Weekly or whatever the police demolition http://www.blackrapid.com/product/camera-strap/rs-w1/squad's professional trade magazine is. Also, these folks have to have a trade show & convention somewhere. A little outreach and a booth raffle for a GPSr or two from the vendor community couldn't hurt.

 

Just a thought.

 

And just when that is done some jacktard deliberately disguises a real bomb as a geocache and it gets ignored or wipes out the bomb squad.

It would never get to the bomb squad - the FTF crowd would set it off first.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

OK. I get that the typical street cop may not have been made aware. But, why not minimal training about geocaches for the bomb squad folks?

 

Maybe someone with appropriate knowledge of that specialty should write a geocaching/letterboxing article for Bomb Squad Weekly or whatever the police demolition http://www.blackrapid.com/product/camera-strap/rs-w1/squad's professional trade magazine is. Also, these folks have to have a trade show & convention somewhere. A little outreach and a booth raffle for a GPSr or two from the vendor community couldn't hurt.

 

Just a thought.

 

And just when that is done some jacktard deliberately disguises a real bomb as a geocache and it gets ignored or wipes out the bomb squad.

It would never get to the bomb squad - the FTF crowd would set it off first.

So... I suppose that the bomber would actually have it reviewed and published.

Hmmmmmm... not a bad idea. Thanks for putting it out there for some (new word here) jacktard to do just that.

 

Now, after that 'what-if' incident, geocachers become the terrorists' primary target. Fits right into the category of terrorism, wouldn't you agree?

 

Just maybe that is why Germany went on full alert this week. Afterall, these are worldwide forums.

 

 

Truth of the matter is... Clan Riffster is dead-on target. This is not a matter for Groundspeak to "put something out there for the police" (they already have), it is a matter for YOU to put something out there for your local departments. It is up to you to educate the street cop (who by-the-way, has other things to worry about rather than a silly game played by odd-balls).

It isn't a matter of educating the upper brass, it's a matter of educating the street cop (the ones that actually work, rather than the ones that think up stuff to make the lower levels of the agency worry about).

 

As far as suing, well... that does say a lot about this litigious society.

[+Otis.Gore]

Funny enough, I was caching in germany once, and a cop car stopped beside me and my buddy.

They were asking us what we were doing and as we explained, one of the cops (a guy younger than we where) looks at us and says:

"That one is easy, I already found it"

[WashoeZephyr]

Funny enough, I was caching in germany once, and a cop car stopped beside me and my buddy.

They were asking us what we were doing and as we explained, one of the cops (a guy younger than we where) looks at us and says:

"That one is easy, I already found it"

Nice!!!

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I find it interesting that in 28 posts no one asked why the cacher was handcuffed.

 

What's the rest of the story? I get checked out by police a lot, especially caching at night in small groups, and we've never had any sort of unpleasantness.

 

I would guess that the cacher gave the cop some attitude. As has been said by LEO above, they can handcuff you anytime they feel the need. What did this cacher do or what were the circumstances that this officer felt the need?

[Clan Riffster]

I find it interesting that in 28 posts no one asked why the cacher was handcuffed.

I doubt we'll ever get an accurate answer on that, as the OP was recounting a third party event. If we could hear from the person who was handcuffed, we might at least have half the story. But all we have is a person who heard about it. Maybe third hand... maybe fifth hand? I think we'd need to ask the cop to find the real story.

 

A few months ago I handcuffed a guy who was not giving me any lip at all. Very polite. I was doing a business check, late at night, and found this guy crouched down behind the building. My backup was at least 20 minutes away. As I've mentioned in the past, I am an old, fat crippled dude. Chasing twenty year olds is not something I enjoy. I handcuffed him, and explained that he was not under arrest, but that I was going to secure him for both of our safety.

[+popokiiti]

I've been handcuffed - not by police, but by mall security - I worked in a dental office, and they thought it would be funny to walk away leaving me handcuffed to a chair. Patients thought it hilarious, but my boss was short on humour that day.

Should it happen when geocaching, I would only show the LEO respect and comply with his/her instructions - they are only doing their job of serving and protecting.

[+power69]

 

Handcuffed for 1h? Wow, I would file some sort of complained.

How would you feel about 12 days in JAIL? I was ARRESTED because an area* the city purchased was deemed a zero tolerance area due to high crime/prostitution/drugs and there weren't any no trespassing signs up!

 

*the cache had permission from the land owner at the time however the glendale police officers hands were tied as it was deemed a "zero tolerance area"

 

I spent that much time in jail because i had nobody to bail me out.

want to lose weight? 12 days courtesy of joe arpaio is a good way to lose weight!

[+SPat ABQ]

One time when caching close to an Air Force Base we made the OSI a little nervous. We where driving slow to ground Z and stopped in a suspicious manor to check for a better parking spot. I noticed a marked patrol car drive by with a white SUV with tinted windows following them. They noticed us too. We drove to where where going to park and where getting our gear ready when the white SUV pulled in behind us. I knew they where suspicious of us and and running our plate. I got out of the vehicle with my "minding my own business" look on my face, and was heading around to the back when one of them exited the vehicle to question me..................before I could say a word Sarah hops out of the Jeep and asks in here perfect naive way "Are you guys Geo Caching"?

 

The officer said "No mam, we are with the OSI and got some reports of some suspicious people walking around the base".

 

Sarah said "Oh well we have not seen any suspicious people............" She explained to them all about geocaching.

 

It was quite an event for the lunchtime cache. The OSI agents never showed any badges and never asked for our ID.

I figure I hit the radar just by the plate check. A picture of me was probably on their lap top and the cover of geocaching, sounded perfectly harmless. Whole thing lasted about 3 minutes.

 

Here is the Cache:

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=d45afca1-2b58-4258-a7a4-756d0d259a18

[+Thrak]

I've had multiple contacts with LEO while geocaching. Some had heard of the hobby and others hadn't. None of the encounters could be described as tense or uncomfortable. Of course I never break the law while geocaching and I don't give the officers any lip. I did alter what I was about to do one time when a patrol car pulled in near my parked truck. I was about to go to the passenger side and use the interior light to sign the log but, instead, diverted to the rear of the pickup so that the officer wouldn't have to worry that I was going for a weapon, attempting to hide something, etc. That was also the only time an officer ran my DL and my plates. Of course I had nothing to worry about so I didn't mind at all. The guy was doing his job and being thorough about it. I understood completely and didn't give him any cause to have an issue with my behavior. Cops don't bother me. They do a necessary job and, without them, life would be crazy.

[knowschad]

Handcuffed for 1h? Wow, I would file some sort of complained.

How would you feel about 12 days in JAIL? I was ARRESTED because an area* the city purchased was deemed a zero tolerance area due to high crime/prostitution/drugs and there weren't any no trespassing signs up!

 

*the cache had permission from the land owner at the time however the glendale police officers hands were tied as it was deemed a "zero tolerance area"

 

I spent that much time in jail because i had nobody to bail me out.

want to lose weight? 12 days courtesy of joe arpaio is a good way to lose weight!

 

Zero tolerance for what? I assume you were not committing any crime.

[GOF and Bacall]

Handcuffed for 1h? Wow, I would file some sort of complained.

How would you feel about 12 days in JAIL? I was ARRESTED because an area* the city purchased was deemed a zero tolerance area due to high crime/prostitution/drugs and there weren't any no trespassing signs up!

 

*the cache had permission from the land owner at the time however the glendale police officers hands were tied as it was deemed a "zero tolerance area"

 

I spent that much time in jail because i had nobody to bail me out.

want to lose weight? 12 days courtesy of joe arpaio is a good way to lose weight!

 

Zero tolerance for what? I assume you were not committing any crime.

 

there weren't any no trespassing signs up!

I'm betting that it was for trespassing. I'd like to here more about it though. I find it difficult to believe that they would arrest someone for it unless it was a posted and fenced security area.

[+JesandTodd]

 

Handcuffed for 1h? Wow, I would file some sort of complained.

How would you feel about 12 days in JAIL? I was ARRESTED because an area* the city purchased was deemed a zero tolerance area due to high crime/prostitution/drugs and there weren't any no trespassing signs up!

 

*the cache had permission from the land owner at the time however the glendale police officers hands were tied as it was deemed a "zero tolerance area"

 

I spent that much time in jail because i had nobody to bail me out.

want to lose weight? 12 days courtesy of joe arpaio is a good way to lose weight!

 

Not a fan of Arpaio's green bologna? Did you have to sleep outside and get pink boxers?

 

arpaio is definitely a zero tolerance kind of guy...

[+LynnMarieP+BTC]

Saw this and had to chime in. I've been caching for less than a year and been questioned TWICE by Leo. (I like that name, I'm going to use it... along with Jacktard!) The first guy helped us look and found the cache for us. The second one followed us from one cache to another and questioned us in a very serious tone. He finally said, "Well, I guess you aren't doing anything illegal"! Apparently copper thieves look a lot like skirt lifters.

[knowschad]

Handcuffed for 1h? Wow, I would file some sort of complained.

How would you feel about 12 days in JAIL? I was ARRESTED because an area* the city purchased was deemed a zero tolerance area due to high crime/prostitution/drugs and there weren't any no trespassing signs up!

 

*the cache had permission from the land owner at the time however the glendale police officers hands were tied as it was deemed a "zero tolerance area"

 

I spent that much time in jail because i had nobody to bail me out.

want to lose weight? 12 days courtesy of joe arpaio is a good way to lose weight!

 

Zero tolerance for what? I assume you were not committing any crime.

 

there weren't any no trespassing signs up!

I'm betting that it was for trespassing. I'd like to here more about it though. I find it difficult to believe that they would arrest someone for it unless it was a posted and fenced security area.

 

Are triple-negatives against the law?

[+Team_LPD]

I'm in law enforcment and a geocacher, and so is my chief. We talk about geocaching alot, usually about caches we found or didn't find. We also talk about how suspicious we can look at times searching for some of these caches. For instance, caches in or around playgrounds. Do you know how suspicous this looks to law enforcement? Seeing a grown man hanging around a playground? Or some caches that are placed in peoples yards, albiet on the fringe of the property?? I absolutely hate doing caches near playgrounds unless I make sure there is no one around, especially children. And I refuse to go poking around someone's front yard, curb, etc.

 

The OP said a cacher was handcuffed. Where was the cache, what time of day, what is the local crime activity like? Pick up your local paper, they are filled with reports of vehicle break ins, houses being broken into during the day, illegal activity taking place in parks, etc. I can give you a hundred scenarios. Do you know how suspicisous it looks to be looking for micro-caches hidden in the lighting posts at Wal-Mart??? Some drug dealers don't deal out of their residence. There have been reports of the dealer taking the money then telling the person where to go to pick up their drugs, in places like.....under the last tree by the ballfield, over by such & such rock formation.

 

The very nature of geocaching in an urban area is very susceptable to being scrutinized by law enforcement.

[knowschad]

I'm in law enforcment and a geocacher, and so is my chief. We talk about geocaching alot, usually about caches we found or didn't find. We also talk about how suspicious we can look at times searching for some of these caches. For instance, caches in or around playgrounds. Do you know how suspicous this looks to law enforcement? Seeing a grown man hanging around a playground? Or some caches that are placed in peoples yards, albiet on the fringe of the property?? I absolutely hate doing caches near playgrounds unless I make sure there is no one around, especially children. And I refuse to go poking around someone's front yard, curb, etc.

 

The OP said a cacher was handcuffed. Where was the cache, what time of day, what is the local crime activity like? Pick up your local paper, they are filled with reports of vehicle break ins, houses being broken into during the day, illegal activity taking place in parks, etc. I can give you a hundred scenarios. Do you know how suspicisous it looks to be looking for micro-caches hidden in the lighting posts at Wal-Mart??? Some drug dealers don't deal out of their residence. There have been reports of the dealer taking the money then telling the person where to go to pick up their drugs, in places like.....under the last tree by the ballfield, over by such & such rock formation.

 

The very nature of geocaching in an urban area is very susceptable to being scrutinized by law enforcement.

 

I don't really care for playground hides, either, but tell me, please... what are the similarities between a pervert hanging out in a park, looking for a child to abduct, and a geocacher or a group of geocachers on their hands and knees, searching under the equipment, wandering around looking helplessly at a GPS device?

[+taggdog]

I'm in law enforcment and a geocacher, and so is my chief. We talk about geocaching alot, usually about caches we found or didn't find. We also talk about how suspicious we can look at times searching for some of these caches. For instance, caches in or around playgrounds. Do you know how suspicous this looks to law enforcement? Seeing a grown man hanging around a playground? Or some caches that are placed in peoples yards, albiet on the fringe of the property?? I absolutely hate doing caches near playgrounds unless I make sure there is no one around, especially children. And I refuse to go poking around someone's front yard, curb, etc.

 

The OP said a cacher was handcuffed. Where was the cache, what time of day, what is the local crime activity like? Pick up your local paper, they are filled with reports of vehicle break ins, houses being broken into during the day, illegal activity taking place in parks, etc. I can give you a hundred scenarios. Do you know how suspicisous it looks to be looking for micro-caches hidden in the lighting posts at Wal-Mart??? Some drug dealers don't deal out of their residence. There have been reports of the dealer taking the money then telling the person where to go to pick up their drugs, in places like.....under the last tree by the ballfield, over by such & such rock formation.

 

The very nature of geocaching in an urban area is very susceptable to being scrutinized by law enforcement.

 

The only time I have been questioned by LEO was looking for a cache at a playground. It was early in the morning just as it was getting light so no kids were around but being a micro in a evergreen tree I was looking for a long time. The officer wanted to know what I was doing to that tree. When I explained geocaching to him he thought it sounded like a giant waste of time but helped me looked for a few minutes. Never did find the blasted thing though.

[Mr.Yuck]

I'm in law enforcment and a geocacher, and so is my chief. We talk about geocaching alot, usually about caches we found or didn't find. We also talk about how suspicious we can look at times searching for some of these caches. For instance, caches in or around playgrounds. Do you know how suspicous this looks to law enforcement? Seeing a grown man hanging around a playground? Or some caches that are placed in peoples yards, albiet on the fringe of the property?? I absolutely hate doing caches near playgrounds unless I make sure there is no one around, especially children. And I refuse to go poking around someone's front yard, curb, etc.

 

The OP said a cacher was handcuffed. Where was the cache, what time of day, what is the local crime activity like? Pick up your local paper, they are filled with reports of vehicle break ins, houses being broken into during the day, illegal activity taking place in parks, etc. I can give you a hundred scenarios. Do you know how suspicisous it looks to be looking for micro-caches hidden in the lighting posts at Wal-Mart??? Some drug dealers don't deal out of their residence. There have been reports of the dealer taking the money then telling the person where to go to pick up their drugs, in places like.....under the last tree by the ballfield, over by such & such rock formation.

 

The very nature of geocaching in an urban area is very susceptable to being scrutinized by law enforcement.

 

I don't really care for playground hides, either, but tell me, please... what are the similarities between a pervert hanging out in a park, looking for a child to abduct, and a geocacher or a group of geocachers on their hands and knees, searching under the equipment, wandering around looking helplessly at a GPS device?

 

Bizarre public behavior? Most people, including most LEO's, don't know what the people "on their hands and knees, searching under the equipment, wandering around looking helplessly at a GPS device" are doing. You really do give our bizarre little hobby, that maybe 3,000,000 people worldwide have even tried, more credit than it's obscurity deserves.

Edited November 22, 2011 by Mr.Yuck

[+Team Lucky]

I'm in law enforcment and a geocacher, and so is my chief. We talk about geocaching alot, usually about caches we found or didn't find. We also talk about how suspicious we can look at times searching for some of these caches. For instance, caches in or around playgrounds. Do you know how suspicous this looks to law enforcement? Seeing a grown man hanging around a playground? Or some caches that are placed in peoples yards, albiet on the fringe of the property?? I absolutely hate doing caches near playgrounds unless I make sure there is no one around, especially children. And I refuse to go poking around someone's front yard, curb, etc.

 

The OP said a cacher was handcuffed. Where was the cache, what time of day, what is the local crime activity like? Pick up your local paper, they are filled with reports of vehicle break ins, houses being broken into during the day, illegal activity taking place in parks, etc. I can give you a hundred scenarios. Do you know how suspicisous it looks to be looking for micro-caches hidden in the lighting posts at Wal-Mart??? Some drug dealers don't deal out of their residence. There have been reports of the dealer taking the money then telling the person where to go to pick up their drugs, in places like.....under the last tree by the ballfield, over by such & such rock formation.

 

The very nature of geocaching in an urban area is very susceptable to being scrutinized by law enforcement.

 

I don't really care for playground hides, either, but tell me, please... what are the similarities between a pervert hanging out in a park, looking for a child to abduct, and a geocacher or a group of geocachers on their hands and knees, searching under the equipment, wandering around looking helplessly at a GPS device?

[+Team Lucky]

I'm in law enforcment and a geocacher, and so is my chief. We talk about geocaching alot, usually about caches we found or didn't find. We also talk about how suspicious we can look at times searching for some of these caches. For instance, caches in or around playgrounds. Do you know how suspicous this looks to law enforcement? Seeing a grown man hanging around a playground? Or some caches that are placed in peoples yards, albiet on the fringe of the property?? I absolutely hate doing caches near playgrounds unless I make sure there is no one around, especially children. And I refuse to go poking around someone's front yard, curb, etc.

 

The OP said a cacher was handcuffed. Where was the cache, what time of day, what is the local crime activity like? Pick up your local paper, they are filled with reports of vehicle break ins, houses being broken into during the day, illegal activity taking place in parks, etc. I can give you a hundred scenarios. Do you know how suspicisous it looks to be looking for micro-caches hidden in the lighting posts at Wal-Mart??? Some drug dealers don't deal out of their residence. There have been reports of the dealer taking the money then telling the person where to go to pick up their drugs, in places like.....under the last tree by the ballfield, over by such & such rock formation.

 

The very nature of geocaching in an urban area is very susceptable to being scrutinized by law enforcement.

 

I don't really care for playground hides, either, but tell me, please... what are the similarities between a pervert hanging out in a park, looking for a child to abduct, and a geocacher or a group of geocachers on their hands and knees, searching under the equipment, wandering around looking helplessly at a GPS device?

 

Perverts don't wear a sign on them identifying themselves as perverts, so when LEO's see someone hanging around certain places, we check them out. If you are not a LEO, you may not understand this. As Team LPD stated, drugs may be what the LEO may suspect, let's face it, thery're almost everywhere, playgoungs included.

[+GrateBear]

Only had one LEO experience--he asked "What are you doing", I said "Geocaching", he said "I thought so. Have fun." And, that was it. I presume he saw me, a middle-aged man, standing on a propped up wooden pallet, leaning against a tree, so I could reach up to get the cache that was about 10' off the ground

[Mr.Yuck]

Never mind, trying to edit an old post and made a new one.

Edited November 22, 2011 by Mr.Yuck

[GOF and Bacall]

I remember our first run in with LEOs while caching. It was in January of 2006. We still went after FTFs any chance we got back then so when the email arrived we hit the road. Arrived at a local city park and started looking. It was dark out, but not late. Prabably about 8:00pm. While looking for leg one of the multi one of the neighbors came out walking his dog. We exchanged small talk for a few minutes, nice weather how about that hokey teem, then he went back in his house and I got back to work. A few minutes later the cop cars started showing up. A young lady jumps out of the first car and draws her gun on me. She must have thought I was insane because I was actually laughing. I though "Cool! My first run in with police while caching!". Carefully holding my arms away from my body I said "Nope, just a flashlight and a GPS." Meanwhile 5 more cars arrive with officers jumping out with guns drawn. By the time all was said and done we were all laughing. One officer even offered to help look for the cache. I figure that the guy with the dog must have thought my GPS was a gun and called 911.

[WashoeZephyr]

I don't really care for playground hides, either, but tell me, please... what are the similarities between a pervert hanging out in a park, looking for a child to abduct, and a geocacher or a group of geocachers on their hands and knees, searching under the equipment, wandering around looking helplessly at a GPS device?

Anybody on thier hands and knees in a playground is kind of creepy in my book!

 

Humor aside, yeah, playground hides rank right up there with cememtary hides, I generally don't do either. I suppose if I had children with me at the playground, it wouldn't seem so weird.

Edited November 22, 2011 by LostinReno

[+sshipway]

I have no problem with a policeman coming up to me while I'm caching, and politely asking what's going on. I'll give him the lowdown on geocaching, and all should be sweet as.

 

What I'd object to is if I was treated as a criminal, ordered away from a public area with no explanation, handcuffed with no provocation, or (worst of all) threatened with an actual weapon. Fortunately I've yet to meet a police officer who was unreasonable, though it sounds as if several cachers have.

 

I have met unreasonable and insulting border officials though (France and USA(twice)) but that is a separate tale.