Just Getting Started - Ran Into Police

[sayrekulp]

Here's the background story: I've been doing this for two whole days (including today). Earlier today I was searching for a cache in the woods just off of a trail I ride my bike on 3-4 times per week. A couple of walkers saw me come crashing out of the woods to retrieve my bike and got concerned. They look in their eyes told me they thought I was up to no good. I tried to wave, smile, say hello to see if they would realize that I'm just a normal guy but they were very uncomfortable with my presence. Granted, I'm a big dude - (6'4" and about 285 lbs.) - so I knew that Officer Friendly would be arriving soon. I figured it best not to try to engage the Concernicus Couple any further and decided to just hang out and wait for authorities. THREE patrol cars soon arrived - one to talk to the couple that called them, one to find me (wasn't hard), and one to search the woods. I was able to explain myself pretty easily and it was no big thing in the end, but it was a bit of a hassle.

 

I'm just wondering if:

 

1) anyone has had police called on them and had to explain why they were acting suspiciously?

 

and / or

 

2) what course of action you took?

 

Tell me about your experiences.

Edited December 6, 2011 by sayrekulp

[+popokiiti]

As you found out - always tell the truth to the police. It was a nerve wracking experience, but the couple may have thought you were stealing someone's bike. Had someone been stealing yours, you'd have appreciated their help. I bet they were a bit embarrassed.

At least your local police know a bit about geocaching now! Carry on caching - thanks for sharing your story.

Welcome to the forums!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

We carry these .

They three-fold perfectly and when you mention "GEO-CASHING" to anyone questioning your activities, it answers most all they need to know.

 

Works well with police, border guards, security guards and the general public.

[+Team Geotor]

One time the officer was waiting for our team to come out of the woods. He had never heard of geocaching, but had already run the plates on the geo-truck. We explained what we were doing, he said it sounded like something he and his son could do. And, he asked if we would show him the cache, of course we did. Then he asked if there were any other caches nearby -- yes there was one. We took him to the general area and let him find it on his own. He signed the log with his badge number. Ran into him about a year later, he and his son are now geocachers.

 

Our team policy -- never lie to police. Muggles -- well they might hear a lie or two.

[+sunkist21]

I was walking along an abandoned railroad track with a bunch of caches along it, when some cops started screaming on their loud speaker, telling that me and my boyfriend should find another "romantic" place to do our buisness, and when i tried explaining that i was geocaching, he said "GET OFF THE TRACKS!!! so we did..

Edited December 6, 2011 by sunkist21

[sayrekulp]

We carry these .

They three-fold perfectly and when you mention "GEO-CASHING" to anyone questioning your activities, it answers most all they need to know.

 

Works well with police, border guards, security guards and the general public.

 

That's a great tip. I'll start carrying one or two of those along with me when I go out in the field.

[+kwcahart]

I've been stopped by Park Police, City Police, and the Border Patrol. Just be honest and tell them exactly what you are doing. I've been stopped but they were all interested and enjoyed the explanation except the Corps of Engineer Park Police. After powermower and I went to the Park Superintendent I think he will be a little nicer the next time! ha ha. Even if they are jerks just be respectful and back off if you have to, you can handle the situation later with someone with more authority. The Border Patrolman that stopped me took up at least an hour of my "Valuable" time, he really was lonely and wanted to talk, so we talked about everything you can imagine.

[jholly]

For the first time I had a LEO stop by while I was looking. He had a point, car parked on the side of the road and me poking around in the brush. Asked what I was doing, said geocaching and gave him a muggle card. After studying it for a while he handed it back and said have fun and left. Other times I have been caching in full view of the LEO but they never got out of their car to inquire what I was up to. Be honest and keep your hands out of your pockets and all will be fine. Of course if you are caught coming out of the woods with your 12 year old daughter at night you are probably are going to be explaining and talking for quite a while.

[+andyleaves]

One time the officer was waiting for our team to come out of the woods. He had never heard of geocaching, but had already run the plates on the geo-truck. We explained what we were doing, he said it sounded like something he and his son could do. And, he asked if we would show him the cache, of course we did. Then he asked if there were any other caches nearby -- yes there was one. We took him to the general area and let him find it on his own. He signed the log with his badge number. Ran into him about a year later, he and his son are now geocachers.

 

Our team policy -- never lie to police. Muggles -- well they might hear a lie or two.

 

Wow fantastic, what a way to get started [].

Thats prety much how my son and I got into caching, somthing to do father and son wise as his mother and I are not living together...

Edited December 6, 2011 by andyleaves

[hoosier guy]

First remember the LEO does not has a choice about responding. So be polite to them, they get enough crap as it is. Someone calls and they have to check it out. Sounds like the couple must have told them quite a story to get three cars there. Second yeah just tell them what you are doing. If you are on public land, or private with premission, and are not hurting anything it is no big deal.

[+softballmom19]

I have a different twist on the Leo encounter. I was looking for a cache near a police station. The driveway near the cache was the exit they used leaving the garage. I had the leo stop and ask Can't find it? He then told me to move to the left and walk toward the wall I should find it. I also had a leo pull up next to me while walking on a dirt road to ask why lately there have been so many people walking on this road when it never had been that busy before. I told him about the cache and he was oh that explains a lot and drove off. I wonder if he knew what I was talking about or not.

[sayrekulp]

It all turned out fine in the end. The officers were very professional when asking me about my actions, so I wasn't real upset and because I hung around the "scene" it made it easy for the officers to handle the situation. The officer charged with "finding" me seemed pretty interested in geocaching and encouraged me to keep at it.

 

Looking forward to the future, I think carrying the pamphlets will save trouble in most situations, should one arise.

[+A & J Tooling]

Get permission from whomever owns the property and hide some caches near the police station. Pretty soon they'll all know you and know what you're doing. All the stations near me have a lot of caches near them. Seems it's a common practice.

[sayrekulp]

Get permission from whomever owns the property and hide some caches near the police station. Pretty soon they'll all know you and know what you're doing. All the stations near me have a lot of caches near them. Seems it's a common practice.

 

There actually is one. It's on my to-do list.

[Schime]

ouh i had a similar expirience

[+hukilaulau]

I've never had the police called on me, but *I* have had to call 911 when I got myself locked behind a gate (twice. two different places.) Both times, dispatcher was very polite and professional. Both times, responding cops were polite, professional, and figured out who to call to come unlock the gate.

And both times, the cops never even asked what I was doing!

[+Isonzo Karst]

I was caching near the road edge, an officer stopped and checked on me, very polite, just checking. I explained that I was geocaching (which required further explanation), and she requested that I stop and move back to the road edge. She was concerned about, "snakes, and the city's liability". She called her chief, who told her that I could find the geocache. I did resume caching.

 

She moved down the street, circled, and parked facing me. I believe she waited to make sure I made it out of those woods alive.

 

All other police encounters have been pleasant and brief; they ask if we're okay, we say yes, they move on.

 

That incident isn't as much about police as about that percentage of people with exaggerated snake fear. I've encountered this a number of times, quite recently the volunteer manning a hunter check-in was not going to let me continue because I was unarmed and, "there might be snakes". I pointed out that the area is opened to rec users at all times, and that rec users can't be armed.

[+DazeDnFamily]

At out very 1st cache find (which is owned by a guy who was a police officer in the town we lived in...) we got snagged by the police. (No, not the CO.) He came up as we had the ammo can splayed out in the back of our truck, signing the log with flashlights. Once he confirmed that we weren't stealing from the construction company next door, we all had a laugh, and we went on caching to find 6 that night. We laughed about that with the CO until we moved away a few months ago.

We've had a few interactions with police. As has been said, tell the truth. You aren't doing anything wrong.

 

Later!

Edited December 9, 2011 by DazDnFamily

[+theosus]

I am the police. No worries here (most of the time).

 

Like the others said - be honest. A lot of cops don't know about it, but a lot do. We have 4 officers in our small agency that cache, plus our town's mayor. The smartphone apps have helped geocaching really explode, almost too popular if you ask me. It was more fun when it was sort of secret.

 

I digress. The cops will be happy you aren't thieves or drug dealers. In a lot of cases they don't want to hassle you any more than you want to be hassled, but Mrs. Nosy neighbor is staring over his shoulder waiting to complain he didn't do his job if those young ruffians aren't frisked and slammed against the car like they do on Law and Order.

[DannyCaffeine]

I once got stopped by an officer. He asked me what I was doing so I told him I was geocaching. I showed him my gps and he asked if he could search my backpack. I was poking around a gas/power meeter so he had probable cause to search me because I could have been a vandal or a scrapper. He found nothing of interest so he asked me for my ID and info and went on his way. Not a big deal. I was a little nervous but I wasn't doing anything wrong so he would not have the grounds to get me into trouble or hurt me.

 

A tip one of my friends shared with me is keep your hands where the officer can see them.

Edited December 10, 2011 by DannyCaffeine

[+BigAl437]

I was taking my daughter and son (cachers) out with a friend (non-cacher) so he could see what it was all about. It was at night. Just as we were about to go into the woods the Park Ranger showed up. He didn't seem to happy so I told him we had been Geocaching. He then asked all about it and got quite friendly. We talked for a long time and I showed him some Geocoins I carry and gave him all sorts of info on caching. He really liked the idea and did not even know there were caches in the state park. He said he'd have to talk to the other Rangers who did know about it. In our state park you have to get specific permission to place them. I have one hidden there, but there are many, many more there. Maybe this guy will check it out and get into it. We ended up leaving and going to another cache of mine to show the friend what it was all about.

[+NanCycle]

the volunteer manning a hunter check-in was not going to let me continue

 

I'd be more concerned about the "hunters." Heard too many stories about someone seeing something move in the bushes and shooting at it.

[+autigerman]

I saw this thread when it first posted and I had some comments for what was said here. I'm speaking about the U.S., so this probably doesn't apply to other countries.

 

... - so I knew that Officer Friendly would be arriving soon. I figured it best not to try to engage the Concernicus Couple any further and decided to just hang out and wait for authorities.

 

If you weren't doing anything wrong, why would you wait for LEOs? Did this couple ask/tell/command you to stop? Why would you think they had called the police? I don't care how bad of a stink eye someone is giving me, I'm on my way when I finish a cache. If the police want to talk to me they can come find me.

 

I once got stopped by an officer....he asked if he could search my backpack. I was poking around a gas/power meeter so he had probable cause to search me...

 

OK, I'll call it, bull hockey. Suspicion is not a reason for the police to search your backpack, car, etc. If you are asked by the police if they can search (insert item here) the answer should be "NO" or "I don't consent to be searched." My understanding, and I'm not a lawyer and I didn't stay at Holidy Inn Express last night, is that the only way the police can search you is to place you under arrest or to have a search warrant. It is your right (4th Amendment), as a U.S. citizen, to respectfully decline to be searched.

 

Finally, everyone should research their particular state's law regarding "stop and identify". There is not a national law covering this. In most places if the police approach and start a conversation you can refuse to identify yourself. If they are detaining you (maybe called a "Terry Stop") then they can ask for ID. Your state determines what this actually mean.

 

We should never forget Ben Franklin's quote, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" .

[sayrekulp]

I saw this thread when it first posted and I had some comments for what was said here. I'm speaking about the U.S., so this probably doesn't apply to other countries.

 

... - so I knew that Officer Friendly would be arriving soon. I figured it best not to try to engage the Concernicus Couple any further and decided to just hang out and wait for authorities.

 

If you weren't doing anything wrong, why would you wait for LEOs? Did this couple ask/tell/command you to stop? Why would you think they had called the police? I don't care how bad of a stink eye someone is giving me, I'm on my way when I finish a cache. If the police want to talk to me they can come find me.

 

I once got stopped by an officer....he asked if he could search my backpack. I was poking around a gas/power meeter so he had probable cause to search me...

 

OK, I'll call it, bull hockey. Suspicion is not a reason for the police to search your backpack, car, etc. If you are asked by the police if they can search (insert item here) the answer should be "NO" or "I don't consent to be searched." My understanding, and I'm not a lawyer and I didn't stay at Holidy Inn Express last night, is that the only way the police can search you is to place you under arrest or to have a search warrant. It is your right (4th Amendment), as a U.S. citizen, to respectfully decline to be searched.

 

Finally, everyone should research their particular state's law regarding "stop and identify". There is not a national law covering this. In most places if the police approach and start a conversation you can refuse to identify yourself. If they are detaining you (maybe called a "Terry Stop") then they can ask for ID. Your state determines what this actually mean.

 

We should never forget Ben Franklin's quote, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" .

 

I understand what you're saying, but as I was not breaking any laws and because the couple chatting furiously into their cell phone while watching me intently gave away the fact that police would be arriving soon, I figured that taking off would look suspicious - like as though I actually WAS doing something that would warrant police intervention. Rather than making them try and find me, I felt it best to wait for them and then explain the situation. Aside from slowing down my evening, it worked out just fine. It made them better aware of the activity and it confirmed that I was no threat.

 

In regards to the issue of search, my understanding is that while yes, I can refuse to be searched as well as refuse to identify and explain my situation. This however, can be used to establish "probable cause" - in other words, I can say who I am and why I'm here - maybe let them search my pack and then move on, OR I can arouse their suspicions and wager whether or not they decide to take me into custody for questioning. In my mind it's not worth it.

[diggingest_dogg616]

I haven't done this enough to have the cops come ask me questions. If I do have the police come 'round, I would be very honest with them. Every time I've been pulled over, I've been really honest and have acknowledged what I was doing wrong and the cops have been very nice (except the first time I got pulled over, but it was an officer from out of town because it was an extremely busy week here and blah blah blah yeah).

 

I think most of the time, if you're really honest about everything, then they'll be pretty decent with you. You know you're honest and a good person, but they don't, even if you act friendly. There are so many people out there that do weird things and cops have to be really vigilent otherwise they can be put in a bad situation.

 

If I was looking for a cache and a police officer came up to me, I'd answer all their questions. I'm geocaching, here's my GPS unit, this is what it's all about, and so on. If I was at a cache, I'd tell them "Here it is" and ask if they wanted me to show them or if they wanted to handle the cache themselves. If a cop wanted to see what was in my pack, I'd let them. They can ask, and you can totally say "No", but how does that look? I was in a concealed weapons class and I found out that if I get pulled over and have a concealed weapons permit and don't mention it because I'm not carrying, the officer will probably get rather offended. Why did I not give him the courtesy of telling him I have a permit? I'm not going to have anything illegal or embarrassing in there, if anything it'll prove my point that I'm not doing anything to be concerned about. It is totally your right to refuse to be searched in that kind of situation, however.

 

Honesty is the best policy.

 

And hey, if it happens enough, eventually they will know who you are and just wave when they pull up

[+Ed_M]

I'm not going to have anything illegal or embarrassing in there

 

Dunno, the bag of silly bandz, stickers, play-doh, and other swag I carry for my kids to put in caches is pretty embarrasing for a 40 year old guy to be carrying.

 

I was certain I was going to be handing out some "Welcome to Geocaching" brochures tonight. Drove past one of my caches and saw 3 police cruisers circled in close proximity around it. Thought for sure someone reported someone suspicious poking around it and it was turning into something serious...

 

Nope. They had just pulled someone over nearby. Phew.

[+TheFlatline]

I saw this thread when it first posted and I had some comments for what was said here. I'm speaking about the U.S., so this probably doesn't apply to other countries.

 

... - so I knew that Officer Friendly would be arriving soon. I figured it best not to try to engage the Concernicus Couple any further and decided to just hang out and wait for authorities.

 

If you weren't doing anything wrong, why would you wait for LEOs? Did this couple ask/tell/command you to stop? Why would you think they had called the police? I don't care how bad of a stink eye someone is giving me, I'm on my way when I finish a cache. If the police want to talk to me they can come find me.

 

I once got stopped by an officer....he asked if he could search my backpack. I was poking around a gas/power meeter so he had probable cause to search me...

 

OK, I'll call it, bull hockey. Suspicion is not a reason for the police to search your backpack, car, etc. If you are asked by the police if they can search (insert item here) the answer should be "NO" or "I don't consent to be searched." My understanding, and I'm not a lawyer and I didn't stay at Holidy Inn Express last night, is that the only way the police can search you is to place you under arrest or to have a search warrant. It is your right (4th Amendment), as a U.S. citizen, to respectfully decline to be searched.

 

Finally, everyone should research their particular state's law regarding "stop and identify". There is not a national law covering this. In most places if the police approach and start a conversation you can refuse to identify yourself. If they are detaining you (maybe called a "Terry Stop") then they can ask for ID. Your state determines what this actually mean.

 

We should never forget Ben Franklin's quote, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" .

 

That scenario is skating extremely close to "reasonable suspicion". Generally I might agree with you, although I'm going to assume the laws vary state by state. In this case the officer could probably have made a reasonable argument that a brief search for weapons was not unusual for someone who was looming around power/gas utilities.

 

There's plenty of time to raise hell after the situation is over. Get the officer's name and/or badge number and register a complaint. On the side of the road in a tree line in the dark (or wherever) is no place to get into a constitutional rights argument.

 

More to the point, I haven't had to deal with the police yet, but I have had to deal with extremely rude and pushy neighborhood watch, who have threatened to call the police for caching on public property. In the end, it's easier to just avoid the confrontation with people who won't listen to/trust you, and walk away.

[diggingest_dogg616]

I'm not going to have anything illegal or embarrassing in there

 

Dunno, the bag of silly bandz, stickers, play-doh, and other swag I carry for my kids to put in caches is pretty embarrasing for a 40 year old guy to be carrying.

Touche! One of my father's friends collected stuffed toys from all the places he's been and kept them in his car. The police thought he was luring children with them so he had some explaining to do I guess it doesn't have to be a bag of something-something to be embarrassing. "What are you planning on doing with that play-doh?" "It's for geocaching! I swear!"

[+GrateBear]

I've had two run-ins with coppers. The first was a city cop, told him what I was doing, he said "I thought so, have fun". The second was a statie, and very suspicious. This was on a Sunday morning, my dog was in the jeep with me, I showed him my GPSr, offered to show him the cache, and then he made me get out and did the "follow the finger routine" for about two minutes. A total Richard Cranium.

[+ArcherDragoon]

I tell the truth and have the Geocaching Handouts ready...helps to show them your GPS as well!!!