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This ever happen to anyone?


loiloiloi6

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So today I was out caching and was headed towards an LPC next to a local army reserve. I glanced at some soldiers and started up a jog, I guess that aroused suspicious where they needed to call the police. They sent someone over (from the army base) who asked "Playing Pokémon?" And I gave the rundown about GCing, then a minute later an officer showed up to talk to me and luckily he had heard of geocaching so I didn't have to do too much explaining. He took my name and address and let me on my way.

 

I'm a newbie, so is this something which any of you have ever experienced? Sorry if this thread already exists, I can't find the search function of this forum.

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It happens. Here's one thread about it: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=129836

And another: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=295451

 

I try to select caches in a way that avoids LEO encounters, and especially neighbors calling the police. So that might rule out a Micro nailed to a palm tree in someone's front yard, for example.

 

This was one of the more... exciting... police actions while I was caching. Flashing lights, ran my plates, checked my ID. I guess the neighbors called it in.

Edited by kunarion
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It happens. Here's one thread about it: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=318949&view=findpost&p=5341758

 

I try to select caches in a way that avoids LEO encounters, and especially neighbors calling the police. So that might rule out a Micro nailed to a palm tree in someone's front yard, for example.

+1

The two times we were questioned were urban areas, outta state.

To date, I found one guardrail, and one lpc. That's enough for me, thanks. ;)

 

I'll do rail and park trails today, but prefer to be in woods (game lands mostly), and away from public view.

A good day for me is no one at parking, and don't bump into anyone the rest of the day. :)

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Closest for me was security for a local business approaching me. I was wearing work clothing - button up shirt, nice slacks, dress shoes - but he was suspicious of me because apparently there'd been a number of car break-ins in that lot. He was familiar with geocaching, though...so he moved on. I never did find that cache and it's since been archived

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Several times - Best one was the first. Wife & I were rooting around in the tiny triangular "Peace Park" in New Paltz, NY just after dusk.

 

A town cop rolled by going up the hill, into the side of which the park was built.

 

He slowed down, then turned the corner and came downhill the second side, then slid to a stop in the parking lot on the third side of the park.

 

"Keep looking, but don't look suspicious," I said to my wife. "I'll go talk to him."

 

He rolled down the passenger window as I walked over. He switched on the interior lights. Big, scary, older, gruff. No-nonsense.

 

"Find it?" he asked.

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Four of us were geocaching in a suburban neighborhood searching for a missing cache that used to be on a chain link fence that keeps people out of an empty lot. Suddenly 3 cop cars pulled up and told us a neighbor had called them out. They had to laugh, too, since at 58, I was the youngest of us. Not exactly the kind of people likely to be up to no good.

 

We thought it was kinda peculiar that anyone would be worried about us, but, on the other hand, I keep reminding myself that this is exactly what "see something/say something" calls for.

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Everyone gets stopped eventually. I've only been stopped twice: once by a park ranger, who thought I was poaching plants (but once I said I was geocaching, we had a great conversation about it -- he was very much for it); the other time by a couple of CA Highway Patrol, who knew enough about geocaching that they didn't stick around long. When I explained why I was looking for something that small (a nano), he sort of rolled his eyes.

 

No need not to explain yourself. At least in the US, explaining geocaching probably nullifies any attempt by them to claim a "reasonably articulable suspicion" that my merit a Terry stop.

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So today I was out caching and was headed towards an LPC next to a local army reserve. I glanced at some soldiers and started up a jog, I guess that aroused suspicious where they needed to call the police.

Some advice: glancing over at some people and then starting to run would look suspicious to nearly everyone. I'd advise against doing any unnecessary jogging when caching. :laughing:

 

Everyone gets stopped eventually.

It depends on where you live. It seems like LEO encounters are pretty common in the United States, but I know of very few people here in my little corner of Canada who have been approached by a LEO or had the authorities called as a result of caching. It could be that the caches are hidden in areas less likely to cause alarm, cultural differences, or any number of other possible variables.

 

I haven't yet been approached by a LEO in my 7.5 years of caching.

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Once, during a night cache in a sub-urban area. I was looking for reflections using a strong flash light. The first reflection I got was from the police car parked nearby some buildings. They drove to the place we were located and asked what were we doing. I briefly explained and they drove away. No ID check or writing down.

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We called the police one time when we found a hand grenade while looking for a cache in the woods. Many car loads of police showed and they held us for questioning. When the fire department trucks showed up to block the road, one of the fireman knew geocaching and explained it to the police who finally let us go after several hours. Finally the bomb squad from a nearby Air Force base showed up and it was found to be a dummy practice grenade. Lesson learned, don't call the police.

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In 14 years and more than 6,500 cache hunts, I've had around two dozen encounters with law enforcement. All of them were pleasant, if you don't count mall cops as "law enforcement." I've had LEO's help me look for caches, in locations as diverse as Jerusalem, Cleveland and Long Beach.

 

My favorite, most memorable law enforcement encounter is narrated in this log from 2007, where I met the best-looking female cop I've ever seen. Driving to the next cache, I kept making corny jokes about that interrogation for the amusement of my daughter, then 13 years old. She said, "if we get stopped again, I'm gonna scream 'HELP, I'm being held against my will' -- unless you buy me ice cream first."

 

So we had ice cream.

 

What are the secrets for minimizing law enforcement interactions, and for keeping them hassle-free when they occur?

 

1. Caching at night significantly increases your chances of a law enforcement encounter.

 

2. A male caching alone will attract more attention than a male with a kid and/or a dog.

 

3. Furtive movements, looking over your shoulder, hiding behind things, etc., all make you look suspicious. Either search confidently amongst the muggles, or come back another time when it's not so busy. If you see a law enforcement officer, don't look away or walk away. I always wave to them, and often stroll over to have a conversation that *I* initiated.

 

4. Law enforcement encounters are less likely to occur in parks, along bike trails, or in other places where people are expected to be engaged in recreational activities, like hiking. If you are nervous, avoid urban caches. When in the parks, follow all the rules, especially any posted closing time.

 

5. ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH. if the officer thinks you're being evasive or lying, the odds of being detained or having your license checked will increase quickly. Geocaching is mainstream, and most LEO's know about it. Say that you're looking for a geocache, and ask if they know about geocaching. If not, give a short, honest summary of the activity. Show the officer your smartphone app or GPS. This year, I've been able to say "it's like Pokemon Go, except I'm looking for a real object that someone's hidden for me to find."

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Our first time getting stopped the cop was a bit crazy. I don't think he pulled his gun but almost and had his hand on it the whole time. It was night time and we stopped at a park and ride. We had already found it and my daughter was in the car as I was replacing it with my flashlight. Cop pulled in and lit me up with his big car light. I started to run down the little hill and he told me to stop, put my hands on my head and slowly walk to his car? I did and when I got to his car he had me put my hands on his hood and then had me start emptying my pockets. About then my daughter opened the door to my car and he said something like. Get back in the car I didn't ask you to come out. I started explaining caching. He asked why he had never heard of it and was really worried.

I kind of convinced him and he started to calm down. He said he thought I was drunk and peeing up there. After he somewhat believed me by me telling him the sticker on my car was about it and we just got back from Hawaii on a caching trip. He had me go open the door so he could question my daughter about it. She confirmed it was a real thing. Then he asked if it was something he could do with his kids and was nice after that. He said to go find it but I had already replaced it.

We have been stopped a couple of times after but all those were nice and friendly.

If you are nice and friendly it should all end up OK. I did have some fear as I was walking to his car with my hands on my head as he had his hand on his gun.

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I have had a few LEO encounters. The first was at a small park that has an overlook over the town. I had just replaced the container under the stone bench when a local police car pulled into the park. He stopped and open his window and waved me over. His first question was "what did you hide over there?. I explained the game to him and everything was find but he said that the park was a popular spot for some to smoke some weed. I could see how he would wonder what I might be hiding, because I *was* re-hiding the container.

 

The last time was in Rome at a cache near the colosseum, where as one would expect, there are a gazillion muggles around. Employing the "act like you belong there" method I saw the hiding spot in the wall from 50' away, walked right up to it, retrieved the container, signed the log and put it back. As I walked away a man was walking toward it with what looked like a GPS on his waist. I pointed to the spot, nodded a yes to him, and walked away. I was a couple hundred feet down the road when a police car pulled over and the man holding the cache, along with someone else in plain clothes and a badge got out. They started to ask me about it, in Italian (which I don't speak) and they didn't seem to understand English. I showed them the app on my phone and they eventually got a street vender to come over and translate. They were particularly interested in the names and dates on the log and asked about caches in sensitive areas. One of the policeman was able to go to the GS web site where he was able to read about it and I was told that I was free to go. I offered to bring the cache back to the hiding spot but they said that they would do it. Apparently they did as the cache got a few more finds later in the day.

 

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I don't want to jinx myself, but in 8 years of caching, 7000 finds, it hasn't happened to me yet.

 

The closest was a land manager, who told me I shouldn't be where I was (which was about 2 feet from the cache, about to grab it). I apologized and went on my way.

 

I figure it will happen eventually, but not yet.

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My first was earlier this year in Melbourne, Australia, where I visited the Formula 1 Grand Prix. "This will be difficult, if not impossible to do during the Melbourne Grand Prix," the description said. You sure? Let me try!

 

So, the GP finds place in a public park that gets closed during the GP weekend for the event, but all the caches stay in place. So, I did try to find the one in the middle of the park. Yes, this is a pretty crowded area when the GP is going on. Lots of traffic from suppliers passing by, F1 fans wandering around and of course some team pulling over right behind me at GZ. But then they move on, I look around and decide to go for it; nobody's watching. Normally it's grab and go. Not this one, of course. So, while I'm turning the container, a safety marshal steps up to me. "What's happening, buddy?" Oh, ohw...

 

So I take out the cache, smile at him and show him exactly what I'm doing. He looks at me through his sunglasses, up and down, looks at my GPS on which I'm showing him all the green dots around in Melbourne and I tell him what geocaching is. That's the moment he's going to kick me out, call the police, the bomb squad, let me get deported...

 

"That's fair. It just looked strange." And then he's off. Phew... I log the logbook, put it back and then I walk away. Impossible during the GP? No. A wise thing to do during the GP? Nah...

 

The day after I had a likewise encounter at the GP (even though you'd say I had learned from the first mistake, but no...), where the official wasn't convinced by my story and asked his colleague to come over. After she showed up with an army of about 7 trainees another guy showed up, looked at the cache, took my passport in his hands and then saw that I'm Dutch. "You from Holland?" Yes, I am. "My sister lives in Holland, too. She lives in Ida?" Then I started to laugh, I asked him if he meant Ede. He said "Yes, that's the place, Ede!" That's where my ex-girlfriend comes from. He smiled, closed my passport, gave it back and the whole problem vanished as quickly as it came. :blink:

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We called the police one time when we found a hand grenade while looking for a cache in the woods. Many car loads of police showed and they held us for questioning. When the fire department trucks showed up to block the road, one of the fireman knew geocaching and explained it to the police who finally let us go after several hours. Finally the bomb squad from a nearby Air Force base showed up and it was found to be a dummy practice grenade. Lesson learned, don't call the police.

 

Why is that the lesson you learned? If you don't know whether it's real or fake, are you really saying you ought to have just left it there and moved along? I can't think of anything more irresponsible.

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My first was earlier this year in Melbourne, Australia, where I visited the Formula 1 Grand Prix. "This will be difficult, if not impossible to do during the Melbourne Grand Prix," the description said. You sure? Let me try!

 

I was in Singapore a few years ago and saw a cache on my GPS with a description that said it couldn't be found when the formula one race takes place there. I was there just a few days before the race and as I was close by and figured why not go check it out for myself. As I was walking to it I heard a zing....BOOM as a lightning strike hit very close to me. I hadn't heard any other thunder earlier (and nothing after) so I figured it was a sign that I probably shouldn't go search for the cache. I'm not exactly sure where the lightning hit, but it was somewhere, very close, behind me.

 

 

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My own little benign story, well one of them...

Before moving to the US, I spent many a day geocaching using a rental car and a printout of the map with all the caches in the area on it and a list if names and difficulties/terrain (back when GS would still enable that, not like today where... well, I digress...) So I stop on a one lane side road in NJ about 1/4 mile away from a trail head, well crossing, leave the car in a small pull off by the road to go get the cache off a fallen tree (T:3.5 so I also had a small backpack with water and some tools and replacement logs etc). An hour later I come back and my car is blocked in by 2 squad cars with a 3rd a few yards down the road and three officers having chat by my rental vehicle pointing at the passenger seat. *gulp*

I realize that I have left the map, face up, in the passenger seat with all the local spots highlighted and listed... Turns out, that such a display in a post-9/11 world with a car with an out of state license plate, registered to a rental car company with a foreign driver in a remote location, is cause for some alarm.

So I announced myself quite loudly (don't want to startle an already alarmed LEO, now do we?) and carefully approached the group. They immediately spread out, checking the surroundings (yes bushes, wood, shrubs etc) and the lead officer asks me about my business in the are. I begin to explain and after a brief, tense moment where I pull my GPS out of my jacket (D'OH, and then I did startle the already alarmed LEO...) and a quick call to dispatch they find a colleague that is also geocaching with his family confirming the game and the fact that there was a cache in the area. As quickly as they turned up, they disappeared again, content that the world was safe...

 

With all LEOs, regardless of US, France or Germany, just don't try to be cute or funny. Explain what it is you are doing, be respectful and friendly and things will go well. I encountered them all and found that to work the best.

 

Thore

Edited by Thore
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We called the police one time when we found a hand grenade while looking for a cache in the woods. Many car loads of police showed and they held us for questioning. When the fire department trucks showed up to block the road, one of the fireman knew geocaching and explained it to the police who finally let us go after several hours. Finally the bomb squad from a nearby Air Force base showed up and it was found to be a dummy practice grenade. Lesson learned, don't call the police.

Why is that the lesson you learned? If you don't know whether it's real or fake, are you really saying you ought to have just left it there and moved along? I can't think of anything more irresponsible.

I'm confused too. Everything sounds like it went well and each entity followed proper procedure, but you're saying you'd do things differently if it happened again? I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that a potentially dangerous object was still sitting there where it could seriously injure fellow cachers.

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...I started to run down the little hill...

I don't get it. Cachers aren't doing anything wrong, so why run? That one action likely turned what probably would have been a benign situation into the tense one you experienced.

 

No kidding. My first instinct would be to pretend to talk on my phone or something less suspicious.

When I watch a tv show or a movie and a police is approaching someone asking them to stop...and they start running...my first thought is "what an idiot..."

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We called the police one time when we found a hand grenade while looking for a cache in the woods. Many car loads of police showed and they held us for questioning. When the fire department trucks showed up to block the road, one of the fireman knew geocaching and explained it to the police who finally let us go after several hours. Finally the bomb squad from a nearby Air Force base showed up and it was found to be a dummy practice grenade. Lesson learned, don't call the police.

Why is that the lesson you learned? If you don't know whether it's real or fake, are you really saying you ought to have just left it there and moved along? I can't think of anything more irresponsible.

I'm confused too. Everything sounds like it went well and each entity followed proper procedure, but you're saying you'd do things differently if it happened again? I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that a potentially dangerous object was still sitting there where it could seriously injure fellow cachers.

we were detained for hours as the suspects while officers went into the woods in groups to look at the object. If it had been real and we were the bad guys, they were all in danger as a group. The sheriff's department did not know what GPS coordinates were when we reported the find so they asked us to remain at the location to show were it was. If a fireman hadn't know what geocaching was, we would have been arrested for doing the right thing.

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Hmm... Nice park. Multi cache. Woman, who was violating the rules of the park, reported us to the police for returning an MKH to a park bench. (Children only permitted here accompanied by their parents. She was obviously not the child's parent.) We headed off into the swamp for a mystery cache. Wrong side of the stream, so we came back, and found the cops waiting for us. Questioning. Required presentation of proof of identity. Cops went off and left us alone. I warned the CO to check on the cache after that.

Lying on my back under a picnic table in Central Park, NYC, looking for an MKH. Park maintenance came over to ask if I were a homeless dolphin seeking shelter. My caching comanions assured them that that was not so. Looking for a benchmark on a bridge in Atlantic City. Brigantine Beach patrol stopped by to say that I was not supposed to stand on a bridge. Hunh? This is Atlantic City, not Brigantine. Cannot stand on a bridge?

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Twice so far.

 

The first time, someone else was at my cache when someone passing by saw them and called it in.

I just happened to go there to do some log maintenance after the event rush from the previous two days.

As I was heading up them embankment, I saw a police car parked behind my vehicle.

Was told to remove the cache, so I had to archive it.

 

Second time was more humourous while caching in downtown Ottawa:

 

I was standing under a large pine tree thinking I was out of sight. My torso was hidden, but as I discovered my legs were in full view.

Next thing I know, a light brown pickup truck pulls up.

 

Me: "Hi, how's it going?"

Officer: "Good. What are you doing?"

Me: "Looking for a geocache."

Officer: "In there?"

Me: "Yes."

Officer: "OK, at least I know what you're doing." and off he went.

Good to know the RCMP know about geocaching.

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Was told to remove the cache, so I had to archive it.

Why? To place a cache you're required to have permission to place it from the land owner (in this case I guess the City), which would take out all sorts of discussion with anyone else, or doesn't that rule exist in your area?

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Was told to remove the cache, so I had to archive it.

Why? To place a cache you're required to have permission to place it from the land owner (in this case I guess the City), which would take out all sorts of discussion with anyone else, or doesn't that rule exist in your area?

My experience is that although caches are allowed by a land manager, they are not protected and are subject to removal. Makes sense. Placement is allowed as long as it's no issue to any authority, or even neighbors.

 

I have permission to place caches in a local park, but landscapers have permission to do their thing. I once had a small container in a ceder. All caches in that park are mapped and catalogued by the park manager. I arrived one day to discover the trees at the cache site had been removed.

 

One of my caches was at a place where the police park to take a break. Having to walk around a police car to search a bush next to the car, that's not an ideal situation for all cachers. The fact that I had permission is irrelevant. It just wasn't a good spot for a cache.

Edited by kunarion
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One of my caches was at a place where the police park to take a break. Having to walk around a police car to search a bush next to the car, that's not an ideal situation for all cachers. The fact that I had permission is irrelevant. It just wasn't a good spot for a cache.

 

Actually, it's a great place for a cache. Just ups the D/ rating a notch. All KINDS of skills are required for caching; no reason why interfacing with police shouldn't be one of them!

 

I've had to contend with snakes, heights, rusty metal, poison ivy, dogs, dirtbags and all kinds of factors that make me nervous. If a cacher doesn't want to do your cache because of the adjacent vehicle, they can come back later.

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If a cacher doesn't want to do your cache because of the adjacent vehicle, they can come back later.

It's not just finders. As the Owner, I may only have a moment to swing by and check on the cache, and having to park a distance from the police is a nuisance. Then having to approach the police and get their attention to explain what I'm doing, and then go find the container (misplaced by the previous finder), then repair it, all right there with the cops on break, it's extra stress, work, and time. Every time.

 

“Hi, I'm Geocaching. There's a small game piece here, a container placed with permission, and I'm checking on it. It's beside your car”.

 

“Geo-WHATZIT?!!”

 

“*ahem*... Geocaching is an outdoor game kind of like a scavenger hunt, played with a GPS device. Go to a set of coordinates, and there is a hidden container with a log to sign and often small items to trade. Here's a pamphlet.”

 

“Oh yeah, I've heard of that”.

 

So I can now go check the container, and the magnet has broken off. I go home and epoxy it back together good as new. I return an hour later and now there are four police cars. They're all still on break. More Geocaching explanations occur.

 

I'm fully aware how many Geocachers love to mess with the cops, love to be caught where they seemingly don't belong and explain their way out of it, thrilled by all the excitement and attention it creates. I am not one of those Geocachers. And I won't subject others to that stress, either waiting for cars to leave, nor having the police pull up while I am or anyone else is placing the container. For those who love it, that spot is available, go ahead and hide a cache there. Enjoy.

Edited by kunarion
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If a cacher doesn't want to do your cache because of the adjacent vehicle, they can come back later.

It's not just finders. As the Owner, I may only have a moment to swing by and check on the cache, and having to park a distance from the police is a nuisance. Then having to approach the police and get their attention to explain what I'm doing, and then go find the container (misplaced by the previous finder), then repair it, all right there with the cops on break, it's extra stress, work, and time. Every time.

 

“Hi, I'm Geocaching. There's a small game piece here, a container placed with permission, and I'm checking on it. It's beside your car”.

 

“Geo-WHATZIT?!!”

 

“*ahem*... Geocaching is an outdoor game kind of like a scavenger hunt, played with a GPS device. Go to a set of coordinates, and there is a hidden container with a log to sign and often small items to trade. Here's a pamphlet.”

 

“Oh yeah, I've heard of that”.

 

So I can now go check the container, and the magnet has broken off. I go home and epoxy it back together good as new. I return an hour later and now there are four police cars. They're all still on break. More Geocaching explanations occur.

 

I'm fully aware how many Geocachers love to mess with the cops, love to be caught where they seemingly don't belong and explain their way out of it, thrilled by all the excitement and attention it creates. I am not one of those Geocachers. And I won't subject others to that stress, either waiting for cops to leave, nor having four police cars pull up while the guy's placing the container. For those who love it, that spot is available, go ahead and hide a cache there. Enjoy.

 

Point taken. Would be a fun one, tho.

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Point taken. Would be a fun one, tho.

I wonder how many of the stories in this thread are about caches where cops meet for a confab/break. The cache where I got the royal treatment is at a forested lot that I'd bet the neighbor considers his personal forest. It could be that the area is a problem area, and has extra patrols. The cache was active for a while after my log, I guess left active so that future cachers could have that kind of fun. B)

Edited by kunarion
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I've been approached by a couple security guards, and by a few park rangers. Generally, they ask me if everything's okay.

 

Apparently, I look more like someone who might be in trouble than someone who might be causing trouble.

Thanks for noting that - I left this out of my prior post. I'd say that around half of my LEO encounters have been in the nature of "Is everything OK? Just checking." That's led to some nice conversations, tips for good local restaurants, and goodwill for geocaching.

 

Not to get too political, but I wonder if those encounters would've gone the same way if I was not a middle-aged, clean-shaven white guy driving a nice car. I'd like to think so, but a hundred news stories say otherwise.

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I've been approached by a couple security guards, and by a few park rangers. Generally, they ask me if everything's okay.

 

Apparently, I look more like someone who might be in trouble than someone who might be causing trouble.

Thanks for noting that - I left this out of my prior post. I'd say that around half of my LEO encounters have been in the nature of "Is everything OK? Just checking." That's led to some nice conversations, tips for good local restaurants, and goodwill for geocaching.

 

Not to get too political, but I wonder if those encounters would've gone the same way if I was not a middle-aged, clean-shaven white guy driving a nice car. I'd like to think so, but a hundred news stories say otherwise.

 

Race baiting in the forums? Shameful.

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I've been approached by a couple security guards, and by a few park rangers. Generally, they ask me if everything's okay.

 

Apparently, I look more like someone who might be in trouble than someone who might be causing trouble.

Thanks for noting that - I left this out of my prior post. I'd say that around half of my LEO encounters have been in the nature of "Is everything OK? Just checking." That's led to some nice conversations, tips for good local restaurants, and goodwill for geocaching.

 

Not to get too political, but I wonder if those encounters would've gone the same way if I was not a middle-aged, clean-shaven white guy driving a nice car. I'd like to think so, but a hundred news stories say otherwise.

 

I don't cache on my own very much anymore, but when my son was smaller and I was at home with him, I often took him geocaching with me. I also found that if people (LEO or civilian) approached me with concern, it was usually to check that I was okay, e.g. assuming that I was parked at the side of the road due to car trouble or something like that. I don't think it's political to acknowledge the reality that when it comes to initial impressions, some people are perceived as less threatening and afforded more privilege than others.

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In 15 plus years I have never been stopped by police or security while caching. The closest was the time my ex wife and I were searching at a rest area. I was on my belly looking in a storm drain and the wife was poking around under a nearby picnic table. State trooper pulls up nearby and watches us intently. I thought that was it, and my streak would be broken. But after about 5 minutes of watching us he pulled away without ever saying a word.

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Was reported by a farmer who happened to have a (pretty lame) cache near his gated fishing place. Police showed up atmy house and my wife explained geocaching to them, since I wasn't at home. They asked me to call them which I did and promised to contact the cache owner to get his confiscated piece of junk ...er... cache container back. The cache was archived soon after (no loss to the game).

 

Another encounter was more crazy: went for a FTF hunt in the middle of the night near a hot ground water energy plant. I made the first log and when back to my car (parked outside the perimeter) another car showed up. I approached the STF cacher - so I thought - and just realized starting to greet him that it was a security guard. Best thing: he took me for a plant employee trying to control him (if he checks things)! He gave me an almost military report about "Alarm was ticked by an open window, all OK!". I didn't hesitate to explain much and we both left a bit frightened about our mid night meeting. :)

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Well, there was the guy that pulled in front of me (a couple of vehicles were with him) when I stopped to make observations on a public road for an earthcache. He blustered about having observed me stopping further up the road, took down my car license, stated that he may not want me to take pictures of his property, and did not seem impressed with geologic science. He had a hard time understanding that no one was paying me to do what I was doing.

 

I was restrained. I did not tell him that my plates are confidential (so good luck with that); I did not take pictures of his plates; I did not call the sheriff; I did not cite case law about photography. Sometimes you have to pick your battles and I was bored with the game he was playing - I simply tried to make it easier next time he sees an earthcacher stop along the road.

 

I have had security officers talk to me and then follow me from cache site to cache site to make sure I stayed on my side of the fence; rangers follow me in a remote location (I later found they were edgy about illegal plants); property owners who have wondered why a container was left on their land. But some security people have helped me search. All in all, it probably helps that I am an older white guy.

Edited by geodarts
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I have had security officers talk to me and then follow me from cache site to cache site to make sure I stayed on my side of the fence; rangers follow me in a remote location (I later found they were edgy about illegal plants); property owners who have wondered why a container was left on their land. But some security people have helped me search. All in all, it probably helps that I am an older white guy.

 

I had someone follow me into the woods when I went to search for a cache. I had spoken with him briefly before hand while he was fishing from a bridge. I'm pretty sure he wasn't interested in earth sciences either, but more *because* I am an older white guy.

 

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Unfortunately I had this happen to me last Spring 2 caches in a row. The first encounter the cache was at the local Library which each library in the county has a cache. It took me a while but I found it and made a stop at the local Dollar store on the way home to pick up some items. When I came out I had 2 squad cars blocking my car in. They started questioning me and I asked tem if they knew what Geocaching was they said they did but they were lying. How did I know? Just by talking with them about the hobby they would say something like a cache??? As if whats a cache? They ran my license and wanted to know where the cache was but they put it the treasure and item I was looking for so they could go look for their selves to verify it. Then they told me they had quite a few calls about people Geocaching, I live in a small suburb and the one I was at was the only one in the immediate area at that time. The second encounter went a little more smoother, a lady cop and her partner rolled up on me and asked me if I found it? Before I could even say anything. After that I took a very long break from caching and recently started back up. I still get that feeling are they going to roll up on me again??? Hopefully that feeling will pass over time. Two in a row on different days. What are the odds?

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I had someone follow me into the woods when I went to search for a cache. I had spoken with him briefly before hand while he was fishing from a bridge. I'm pretty sure he wasn't interested in earth sciences either, but more *because* I am an older white guy.

 

I've had that happen... non-police muggle follow/approach me while I was geocaching, thinking I was looking for something other than a Geocache. Once I figured out what he was looking for, I explained I wasn't interested and he moved on. This can happen if the location of a geocache is also used by people looking for other things.

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