Metal detecting at schools??

[boggle]

Hi all had a question about detecting at schools? I am assuming i need to ask permission?? or do i?? And who do i ask? the principal? This is in vermont , dont know if that makes a difference or not? also kinda the same question about parks??

 

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[CodyCat Borat]

I don't know how schools work in Vermont, but around here school is over by 3PM. So really, who's to ask?

I wouldn't worry so much about getting permission. Just make sure you cover your holes and leave the place the way it was when you got there.

If you ask permission, the answer will probably be no, so why ask....

Anyway that's my 2 cents on the topic for what it's worth.

Enjoy your hobby,
CCB

 

[Jack(IN)]

Most schools in Indiana are considered Parks after hours and you can hunt. If they don't want you to hunt it will be locked or posted!

 

[Gypsy Heart]

Schools in Wisconsin are public property. Just stay on the playground and playing fields....no manicured grass and you should me fine.....cover your holes, and throw out any trash ....

 

[dahut]

Schools? Go. Parks? Go

Its easier to get forgiveness than permission.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I agree with all the above opinions. Schools are public. As long as you're not there during sessions, or leaving marks, etc... (Odd, I got the 3rd degree for posting this stance before, but now it seems to be the consensus finally)

 

[Born2Dtect]

Get permission. All land is owned or cared for by someone. Just because detecting is not usually harmfull does not mean it is always OK. If you hunt without permission you make it harder on everyone else. In the case of the school it is too easy to get an answer. Send an email or call the principle. Its that simple and you may get a few tips to boot. No matter your feelings on the subject, getting permission is the right thing to do.

Ed D.

 

[Ant]

If the school is locked but I see people playing soccer, basketball, jagging and the likes, I hit it. If I don't see people doing that, and it is not posted with no trespassing signs, I’ll park in a remote area and hit it at night or on a weekend. You might not believe it, but I can hop a fence like a deer now.

In the areas I detect when it done like that no law is being broken, as long as the area is not posted, or you are asked to leave.

 

[John (Ma)]

I have been doing PUBLIC schools in my area in Massachusetts lately and have not had a problem. If someone says something, be polite and ask if there is a ruling. I always have some metal shards or glass I have picked up along my way to show that I am also helping to clean the area, as well as helping to make it safer for kids. If they were to insist I leave, then I would, it's not worth the p****** contest. You can always look into it later.

Also look for signs in new areas that may clearly state "No metal detecting". Then it's a no brainer. GOOD LUCK

 

[skydiv]

I have found a seringe (sp), a sripto cutting knife lots of cut up pop cans, so if someone would ask i would tell them I also fine these things. I don't ask for schools but I do need a permit to do the parks. part time park workers can be a pain.

 

[lFoundlInlOhiol]

When i first started out mding ,I did call schools etc /etc ''The answer was always'' {{{NO}}}...So i dont even ask no more...Been hitting this school for about a month now..passed me were grounds keepers,coaches,police cruisers,never have once been told to leave...Do you hunt on sundays? That is the best day to md on or around these places!I still wanna jump the fence and hit the track/football field!!!I no thats were the valuable stuff is!!even have a couple old old oak trees!!''Far as going on land outside of homes ill always ask....Take along a trash bag with you ..clean the area were you wanna detect,let people see you. cleaning up what they are being paid to do .....Good luck!!!!

 

[spez401]

If it is a public school, the rules SHOULD be the same as local parks. If it is a private school... different rules apply. either way, check your local laws. If it is not listed, or prohibited, then go for it. However, if there is a local ordinance, or state law that prohibits it... stay away, or ask permission.

Either way, you should ask for permission, but more importantly, check your local laws. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, and while many say "what's the worst that could happen? I get a warning." there are things that are a lot worse. I posted this in a thread earlier this summer:

"It isn't worth it. Back in the beginning of April, I defended a gentleman who used a metal detector on a prohibited site (underwater). There was a statute that prevented it. Here was the total tab after all his gear was confiscated:
$2500 in Scuba Gear
$1000 for and Excalibur 1000 (bought about 2 months ago)
$3500 for 14' zodiac and motor
$1000 in fines
$750 legal fees (to me )
$8,500 Total bill"

Easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission... not always. I'm not saying that this will happen to you... My client didn't think it would, but it can.

steve

 

[oldplacesnofinds]

I agree with most. People are alway doing something after hours at the schools around me. Basketball, football, softball, jogging ect. I don't act suspicious and just detect.If people walk by I say hello or ignore them. They all think we are weird anyway.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Spez401, there HAS to be more to that story than that. Like, it must be on Mel Fisher's site or something. But if it IS true, that somewhere, somehow, someone got his detector confiscated for something as innocous as a friggin public school yard, it is the exception. And I mean BIG exception. For that matter, I'm sure someone got thrown in jail for a night for a tail-light infraction, but that won't make me afraid to drive.

101 Coinshooter, your "no" story is pretty telling. The danger you face now, is that although everyone doesn't care, one of those people who gave you a "no", might now drive by, see you, recall the earlier inquiry, and boot you But if you'd never asked, you'd probably have never been paid attention to, by that very same person. That is the danger in asking, is that it draws attention to yourself, and this hobby, as if.... something were inherently wrong with this, that you had to ask to begin with! Doh. Think of yourself as someone no different than that person playing basket ball after hours. I bet they didn't "ask". (but if they had, they'd probably have been told "no")

Although I don't ask for public schools, I would imagine that if I DID waltz into their office to ask (be sure to have a digger in your hand, lest they not fully understand the implications ), I'd probably get a lot of no's too. I mean, think of it, why should THEY be bothered? Yet anyone here in towns around me can detect till their blue in the face, and no one cares, so long as they aren't doing it while school is in session, leaving holes, etc....

I met up with 3 friends last Saturday, and we hit a local school for several hours, and never had a problem. We got an 1896 IH, a handful of wheaties, a '41 merc, a gold earing, and a silver ring.

Born-to-detect, you say: "All land is owned or cared for by someone" Yup, the public schools are owned by US, and cared for by US, as in .... we-the-people.

 

[spez401]

Tom
that instance is just an illustration of a few points. 1. Ignorance of the law will not absolve you. 2. It is better to ask permission first, rather than hope you don't get caught.

In that situation, my client dove on a shipwreck that was protected here off the coast of RI. When he surfaced, he had several artifacts in his dive bag. The Coast Guard pulled alongside a few mins after he surfaced. They asked where he was, what he was doing etc. He said that he didn't know he couldn't take items from the wreck. They confiscated his boat, dive gear, metal detector. We ended up pleading him out to a lesser charge, and getting back most of his gear and his boat. Bottom line, it cost him $1,000 in fines, $750 to me in legal fees, and loss of his boat and gear for about 2 months while we awaited a hearing. The registration on the boat was also suspended for 1 year... he can get it back next April.

The point is know the law before hand. In my town, schools are considered public grounds, and there are no ordinances against MD on any public grounds. I have one about 200 yds through the woods from my house and I hit it about once every 2 weeks. I have never asked for permission... because i know there is nothing that prohibits me from going.

 

[Ant]

Tom
that instance is just an illustration of a few points. 1. Ignorance of the law will not absolve you. 2. It is better to ask permission first, rather than hope you don't get caught.

In that situation, my client dove on a shipwreck that was protected here off the coast of RI. When he surfaced, he had several artifacts in his dive bag. The Coast Guard pulled alongside a few mins after he surfaced. They asked where he was, what he was doing etc. He said that he didn't know he couldn't take items from the wreck. They confiscated his boat, dive gear, metal detector. We ended up pleading him out to a lesser charge, and getting back most of his gear and his boat. Bottom line, it cost him $1,000 in fines, $750 to me in legal fees, and loss of his boat and gear for about 2 months while we awaited a hearing. The registration on the boat was also suspended for 1 year... he can get it back next April.

The point is know the law before hand. In my town, schools are considered public grounds, and there are no ordinances against MD on any public grounds. I have one about 200 yds through the woods from my house and I hit it about once every 2 weeks. I have never asked for permission... because i know there is nothing that prohibits me from going.

In this situation that analogy doesn’t fit. We’re talking about public schools, not a sensitive protected or Historical site. The Government must have thought your client was steeling.

We have hopped fences around here for as long as I can remember, and I’m 51 years old. Back when I was a kid schools where uses as recreations centers. And that’s probably why people still hop fences and no one cares today, even when they see you do it. The recreation center at school even had a coach that ran the place after hours. We could check our game balls, caroms tables, ping pong gear and the likes.

But due to vandalism, some schools are locked up tightly. Oh, schools have always been vandalized, even back when I was a kid. One can tell if the school is totally off limits, because they have 8’ chain link fences or re-curved bar fences to keep us out.

 

[Boobydoo]

Here in Michigan, the public schools are ok to hunt with all due respects to following the ethics of TH'ing but only on weekends, the summer, or in the evening if there are no school activities happening.

Priviate schools and churches, I would always ask permission.

But even at the public schools, if a custodian or staff member approaches me and says that I shouldn't be there detecting, I respect that and leave no questions asked. That's only happened once to me.

Good luck to you!

Smiles!
BDoo

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Spez401, you say: "I have never asked for permission... because i know there is nothing that prohibits me from going." I could compromise with you on that point. I could understand checking a city's website, where local laws may be posted, to see if it has anything addressing metal detecting (if the site has a word search option, you just type in metal detectors/ing, etc..). But I would try to find it in writing on my own, not ask "are there laws against md'ing?", lest someone just say "no you can't do it", and morph something they *think* applies, like "don't disturb the vegetation".

So I could agree with your stance, that if there's no laws against it, then it is therefore allowed, unless told otherwise. That's like if you came to an intersection while driving, and there was no sign forbidding U-turns, then one assumes that they can therefore make U-turns.

But where I draw the line is with folks that think that merely to know that there are no prohibitions, is not enough. They go one step beyond that and seek "permission" as well, even though they already know there's no laws saying you can't. That's where I'd be afraid of the "no's" that 101 Coinshooter aludes to. (mind you, a "no", when you would likely have just been ignored)

 

[mirage hunter]

Here in Maryland the public schools are ok. Private schools need permission and most parks here are off limits!! one more thing schools can be fun! You find alot of coins and a ton of trash just be curtious and take all trash you dig with you, Fill your holes and if someone does approach you be friendly and kind!! you shouldnt have any problems. Good luck in your hunts!!

 

[cosmic]

I called the school district office and spoke with the superintendent of schools.. He said no problems and he said he would let the principals know... Sorry I won't go without permission..