COPs just kicked me out of the park .. but I managed to escape with 2 silver lol

[silversurfer1111]

COP's just kicked me out of the park .. but I managed to escape with 2 silver lol

I was hunting in the park just like I have bin for the last 3 years ...but today some A$$ bag decides he is going to call the cops on me ...I was just closing up a plug and there he is right on the side of me . I did not here him walk up I had my headphones on ... he yelled at me YOU CANT DIG HERE

he takes a look at my neat plug and said well there's no damage . then he gets on the radio and says everything's all set here...he takes down all my info then he said I have to go . I told him that I have talked to the parks department and they sad I can dig here as long as I fill my holes ..he said sorry you have to go

I call the copes on some druggy's shooting up in the park and leaving there needles for little kids to play with ...NO COPS SHOW UP .....BUT SOME CRAP HEAD CALL'S THE COPS ON A GUY METAL DETECTING HERE THEY COME .WHAT THE F*%& IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE

ok sorry i just had to vent ...here are the coins I saved just before getting kicked out

 

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[mariposagold]

Yeah, I hate that situation. Never happened to me, but comply with the demands of authorities and hunt gain later. He didn't say you couldn't come back and he didn't say I never want to see you hear again. Good signs. There is always night hunting for safer neighborhoods. I so much hate busybodies that call the police on Metal Detectorist. Especially in Crack Hoods.

Great Finds.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Great Finds man!...sorry you had to deal with some A$$Hole...its crazy because if you are at a public park, i wouldnt think twice about it...Sometimes i wish someone would say somethign to me..Ive got alot of built up road rage to unleash..lol...really thou....i have to much of a temper to deal with that....You did good!

 

[Trezurehunter]

Its a shame its starting to be like that in a lot of areas. People really think we are harming something ? Anyway you made 2 nice finds - don't let the jerks ruin your day.

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

To bad about the cops, but nice recoveries... That will show them !!

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[jackc]

nice finds! I'd love to make some finds like that!

 

[cti4sw]

I was you I'd tell the parks department about it.

 

[WHADIFIND]

I was you I'd tell the parks department about it.

I agree with you. But, I'd take it one step further. I'd talk to them and ask if they could give you a written permission slip so you could show any "official" persons. Not the loudmouth, just any officials. The loudmouth? Just turn up your headphones.

I wonder. Is it possible to file a counter complaint with the police on the person who called them? After all, it is defamation of some sort, isn't it?

"Freedom to the pursuit of happiness."

Yeah, right! Unless the little Napolean decides their "happiness" is derived by bothering other law abiding people.

Wonder if they made a false report to get them there. Chargeable offense, eh?

Keep your head and keep at it, there are more of us than them.
HH!

 

[WHADIFIND]

..he said sorry you have to go

Do NOT confront the police on it, but ask gently "WHY" you have to go.

After all, you might have to name him in the suit. Keeping the park free of detectorists, using public funds, so his buddy can have a free reign. Hmmmm....

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

silver-surfer, sorry to hear about your encounter. Sounds to me like the cop was just responding to a busy-body call in, and had to "satisfy miss lookie-lou". I've had situations like that where, .... truth be told ... the cop himself would probably never have looked twice at you. BUT WHEN THEY HAVE A CALL, they are duty-bound to look into it, blah blah. So therefore, if it was me, I'd simply go back later when miss-lookie-lou busy-body is not there. I mean, duh, use "due diligence" and don't go back the very next day, etc...

As for your "permission", this is kinda odd: Because whenever the subject of whether or not we md'rs "need permission" to md at public parks, this potential is sure-to-be-brought up, that the permission will deflect busy bodies, keep you from getting booted, and so forth. Right? But as your situation shows (and this is oft-repeated), is that people go "get permission", from city hall, only to have it just as quickly revoked by a cop, or the lawn-mower guy etc.... All they need to do is get on their phone, call down to city hall, and say "But he's tearing the place up!" (even though that's not true). Then guess what happens to your "permission"? And for WHATIFIND, this is going to be true whether the permission was in writing, or verbal. It can be just as quickly revoked. Not saying that *always* happens (I'm sure there's successful "deflecting" stories by people who whipped out their "permission".)

The few instances of successful "deflecting" comes with a downside to those who've sought permission: they can also net themselves a "no" to their request, in places where, ... quite frankly .... no one would ever have cared or noticed. Thus you just precluded yourself from a place that had not real rule saying you couldn't.

 

[jewelerguy]

what a load of BS. maybe they will need your help some day finding a piece of evidence and you can say "sorry, but I have to go"

 

[WHADIFIND]

Yep, it sure can be. But, I think that having requested and proof of permission will trump not, most of the time. I think it's better than showing up one day and the words, "No Metal Detecting Allowed" have been added to the sign of park rules.

Also, I'm thinking it might not be a bad idea to call some of these busy bodies' bluff. See how they feel if they are going to be threatened with a lawsuit, or just a counter complaint for calling the cops in the first place. After all, do we REALLY think that someone is calling up and saying, "Hello? Yes, I'd like to report a man using a metal detector in the park today."

I would go back another day, but, I'd also talk to the people that gave the permission. See what changed.

HH!

 

[Diggincoinz]

The adjacent county to me (Monroe County) does not require any permit but recently a new county sheriff in the area has kicked out metal detectorists from Webster Park for no reason at all. So now we can't go to that particular park for fears of being arrested/fined. Isn't there anything "we the people" can do about it?

 

[mercury1]

Sorry you got harassed silversurfer but at least you scored some silver. That is a really pretty Washington.

 

[recentlycured]

Nice finds but sorry for the situation you encountered after having been there for years and parks telling you its ok.....HH and good luck gettimg some kind of note or some way that you can detect without getting hassled and kicked out.....where I am at parks are just about the only legal public place....except for one in my town which is so rich with history it is illegal.....man I gotta eyeball that place for surface finds or something lol...maybe I can walk my pinpointer on a leash there lol...good luck.

 

[genlee]

The way to win is get a copy of your towns ordinances, and local laws. Be educated, most cops make crap ordinances up because they know you have no clue.

Find a copy and carry it with you. And if a police officer comes up and harasses you about detecting, you have the following rights

1. The 4th and 14 Amendments, to begin with, second you do not have to give the police officer any personal info about yourself nor do you have to show him your ID even if he asks, because that is unlawful search and seizure which is covered under the above mentioned Amendments. Even if the police officer asks, you can respectfully decline, if he asks you can simply say am I under arrest or am I being charged with anything? Which the answer is no.

Now as long as you are courteous, the police officer can not arrest you with probable cause, nor can he search you. These violate you rights.

if the police officer asks you to leave, have him quote the law or ordinance you are breaking by being there, and by asking him this makes him duty bound to tell you. Chances are he will get frustrated with you and either physically try to remove you or just walk away, most will walk away.


Which if it is a public park most will post their rules and most will say real quick no detecting.

Now I am speaking from experience on this I have been in the middle of a field hunting relics with full permission, and some a-hole driving by called the police, and three squad cars later since there was three of us. We were confronted and I calmly tried explain that we had permission and had been hunting this field for the past three years. He was not hearing what we had to say, so when he asked for my name and id I declined respectfully. I asked for his supervisor, this just infuriated him, however I remained calm and continued talking to him not down to him, he himself calmed down and when his supervisor came out he informed the officer that we were fine and had every right to be there.

Now the down side to this, the farmer having seen all this from his house kicked us off the land.

The positive side is I stood my ground and prevailed.

Sorry I feel that we no longer need to act like sheep in a heard.

Know your rights and stand behind them and use them to their fullest.

John

 

[RelicDude]

This is exactly why i hunt in the woods. The last park I was at I got kicked out by a cop and seriously twenty feet away there was a drug deal going down. Nice silver though.

 

[looknforgold]

Feel for ya....most Cops where I live don't care and I have even talked to some who are avid hunters. I have shot the BS with more than a few while I was out hunting, but I guess there is always that one A-hole.

 

[g-olden years]

Here we have several small cities that abut each other. Each has a different & detailed city code, available online. Some of the cities prohibit climbing trees, others prohibit ANY digging, others prohibit disturbing plants, some have no prohibitions, and one prohibits planting YOUR unwanted plants in the parks, lol. My son & I read up on these codes before detecting parks, so have never been kicked out of parks. And have had friendly chats with park personnel. However on one of our most researched and anticipated forays on what we assumed was city park property, suddenly a military cop appeared and informed us it was U.S. Govt military property, though no signs were posted to delineate its separation from the big city park! He politely did a complete "make" on us, we politely answered all questions though fuming a bit inside at the absurdity of his being concerned about a little old lady in pink sweatshirt covered with hearts, and her cooperative adult son. But then he did at least take the time to describe to us exactly where the federal restricted property boundaries ended. Though I have my fantasies of inventing a highly miniature detector the size of a nail file and sneaking back, not gonna risk it, not worth it. And yes, no doubt a bored busybody had phoned him in the first place. Andi

 

[NJcigarman]

Ha!! You got caught up in a CYA. That is police jargon for cover your a$$. I am retired police with 30 years in NJ. These busy *****es/cronic complainers are known to the local Officers. They are the type that call the Mayor and show up at a town meeting and tell the Council the police didn't do anything when they called. As much as it wasn't right he chased you he saved himself lots of grief. And believe me these busy *****es have the ear of the town council and probably the Police Chief. And I worked in a town that had a lake, a county swimming pool, numerous parks, and about a dozen fields for all sports. When these nitwits called they tell dispatch that you are destroying the place, and I even had a call where they said they were stealing sprinkler heads. I always told the MDer's that they had to leave, but they could come back. But I would direct them to another location on the other side of town and tell them what I had pulled out of there in the past. It is ignorance of the hobby and their own perceptions.
But in one case I saw busy/***** walking her dog in the park. Rover dumps and she keeps on walking. I followed her home and made her come back and clean it up. And yes people I gave her a $50.00 ticket!!! She was unhappy, but I reminded her how she didn't like anyone else in the park MDing so zero tolerance.

And do yourself a favor and don't ask for to much permission. Only because everybody is so afraid to say yes that they end up asking the Mayor or someone else who says no. In the end getting chased once in awhile beats a firm NO. Good Hunting.