Posting this here aswell as in general.....looking for vast input.

[ryaan21]

Im posting this here aswell...looking for as much help as possible. Mods please move if it is disrupting the forum.



Hi all. My brother and i have been detecting on and off for 10 years. In our small town there are boulevards,the area between the street and the sidewalk. We had detected these before without nary a word from anyone. This summer however whenever we go to do them someone always calls the police. The cops come and are generally very cool but tell us we have to leave anyways. We asked them why and they told us that it is city property but the residents maintain it. We asked if there were laws forbiding it and they told us there wasnt but since someon called they had to tell us to leave. So before we left we asked the cops where we could go and they told us to go to the city park. So tonite we went down to the park and just started detecting when some woman pulled up and started giving us a ration of crap about detecting in the park.


She told us she was the parks director and that she didnt want us digging and vandalizing the park. Well she didnt notice the 4-5 plugs we dug because we fill and tamp and make sure it looks good before we move on. So we asked her for some form of ID or document of authority since the police already told us we could detect there and she said she didnt need to since she was the police as far as we were concerned. Then she told us to leave the park,and being taxpaying citizens and it being a public park we told her no. Then she went and got the REAL police and they came down and told us in no uncertain terms that we could be charged with destruction of property if we didnt leave. We asked them why one cop told us we could be there and if we had to leave we would like to see a ordinance or rule in print and they told us there wasnt any. Im at a loss as to what to do. No one will provide us with any proof or rules concerning us detecting...yet the cops keep telling us to leave. We looked on the city ordinance list and it has nothing. Any ideas what i should do? Thanks.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[ryaan21]

lol huh?

 

[Dman]

Always remember the cops have the big sticks. The government always wins.

 

[teverly]

Contact the city administrator and ask about hunting curb areas and detecting laws in general.
If there is no ordinance against detecting the curb areas,then the cops really cant make you leave.I have had the police called on me and they stop and talk to me and just say good luck and go on.
Also check with the parks dept. They can tell you if there are any laws or rules against detecting city parks.
Even though i am not a lawyer,if you took pictures and could show that you were not leaving open holes or trash on the ground it would be hard for them to make any kind of destruction charges stick.
as always try and be as curteous as possible,but if you know the laws in your city and there are no rules against it then i dont see how they can make you leave.even if someone calls the cops on you.

 

[ryaan21]

Thats fine. Im not one to ruin the rep of the hobby. But without proper laws and stuff it just doesnt seem right.

 

[SC_hunter]

I think I would go to the local city hall and make an appt. to see the mayor...if this is a small town there should be no problems getting t o see him/her. Then explain what you were attempting to do and then let him give a yea or nay..and if it is nay..then don't hunt in the parks and if it is yessss..then get him to give you a "permission" slip...Good luck.

 

[ryaan21]

Thanks alot all for the replies so far. This has really been p'ing me off. The woman actually got nose to nose with my brother and was yelling at him. There is a town meeting on monday...i think ill go to it.

 

[SC_hunter]

Thanks alot all for the replies so far. This has really been p'ing me off. The woman actually got nose to nose with my brother and was yelling at him. There is a town meeting on monday...i think ill go to it.

Don't get PO'd...and just have your say.............Just remember, be polite...even when you can hardly restrain yourself..lol

 

[teverly]

I agree with SC .Have your say but stay calm......And be sure and thank anyone that helps out or gives you information.....
oh and by the way telling someone you are the police when your not..is a crime!!!! regardless of whom she thinks she is.

 

[DJ_Quinn]

Ryan, sometimes you just have to let things go, even if you aren't necessarily in the wrong. Please try not to let one person with an attitude ruin your day out detecting. Find somewhere else to detect, chill out and just accept the fact that not everybody is easy to make happy.
The reson that the cops ran you off the second time is because they had a complaint. Go someplace wher nobody is going to complain, it isn't worth the hassle and you going away p*ssed off.

 

[ryaan21]

haha yeah we kept our cool. And that is saying something. 2 italians with short fuses lol. Maybe we look inti,idating or criminal. Im 5'10 297 solid pounds and my brother is about 6 ft solid 290. Both bald headed and mean looking. We are teddy bears though and the cop even told us he thought what we were doing was cool and told us there was alot worse stuff we could be doing on a saturday evening.

 

[metalman]

from past experience if a police officer tells you that, get his badge number and name. when you are hunting where he said to go use it to your advantage. most people will back off including police officers. they do not like to step on each others toes. just remember be polite and curtious and always fill in those holes!

 

[DJ_Quinn]

haha yeah we kept our cool. And that is saying something. 2 italians with short fuses lol. Maybe we look inti,idating or criminal. Im 5'10 297 solid pounds and my brother is about 6 ft solid 290. Both bald headed and mean looking. We are teddy bears though and the cop even told us he thought what we were doing was cool and told us there was alot worse stuff we could be doing on a saturday evening.

LOL, that explains it! (BTW, I've got an Irishwoman that will give any of your Italian ones a run for their money in the short-fuse dept.) Have you ever been to Italy? It is my favourite country in Europe. Best weather, best food, best looking women, etc... I go there whenever I get the chance.

 

[ryaan21]

Never been there yet. My parents can whip up some mean rigatoni though with real pork and beef meatballs about the size of a tennis ball. Me and the wife's first anniversary is comming up and we have been thinking about where we would like to go Ireland is number one so far with Italy a close second.

 

[aa battery]

Guys i had an officer tell me i was on private property and had to leave.I asked him doesnt this belong to the city and he said yes.Well how could it be private when its public land right.He said i dont care you have to leave so i asked him one more question.Are you a private security guard? Really upset now he said no why?Well if you where a City Police Officer you would be a public servant right.After that i told him i would leave but i was just confused.The best thing to do is leave and i did but the officer smiled and said nice try.

 

[DJ_Quinn]

Guys i had an officer tell me i was on private property and had to leave.I asked him doesnt this belong to the city and he said yes.Well how could it be private when its public land right.He said i dont care you have to leave so i asked him one more question.Are you a private security guard? Really upset now he said no why?Well if you where a City Police Officer you would be a public servant right.After that i told him i would leave but i was just confused.The best thing to do is leave and i did but the officer smiled and said nice try.

I know, I know, rules don't always make sense but I always show respect for law enforcement officers. They are doing a job that you could never pay me enough to do.

 

[DJ_Quinn]

Never been there yet. My parents can whip up some mean rigatoni though with real pork and beef meatballs about the size of a tennis ball. Me and the wife's first anniversary is comming up and we have been thinking about where we would like to go Ireland is number one so far with Italy a close second.

Bring your umbrella for Ireland. Tuscany is one of my favourite places on earth. It's got everything and it's romantic. It's an ideal holiday for an anniversary, (conrats by the way. I'll bet they said it wouldn't last..)

Fly into Shannon, do the Ring of Kerry and tyhen head over to Italy. Rome is one of the great cities of Europe, but if your not looking for the hustle and bustle of a big city, then Tuscany is your spot.

 

[Kilika]

Sometimes I think people call and complain because they don't like the idea that we're going to 'get rich' finding stuff on public property. Maybe when you go to the town meeting, you could bring along some samples to give the idea of the trash to 'treasure' ratio. And if you stress the valuable service you are volunteering by cleaning up the trash, they might be more receptive.

I worked for the City parks department. We often had to toss out perfectly good flats of flowers we raised in the greenhouse, and for me, it was a terrible waste. But, there are strict ethics standards about not allowing any individual to 'profit' from public resources, so we couldn't take any plants home or we could be fired. We also couldn't give them away, because the person who received them would have been profitting at the public expense. I tried to set something up to give them to some nursing homes, but same problem, the nursing home owner would have proffited by having their property 'beautified', so, no go.

I now work for the State, and the same rules apply. It's frustrating to deal with the waste, but it's an ethical issue to utilize public resources in a manner that is fair to all. If someone sees you detecting, and thinks you're going to get something good, and they're not, and that's not fair... well, I suspect that's at the base of what they're really upset about when they call the cops on you. Petty and stupid, I know. But there's alot of people out there who worry more about if something is 'fair' (to them), than if something is sensible.

So, again, if you can find a way to show the powers that be that what you're doing benefits them, or the public good, you might stand a chance. Otherwise, I say, just find somewhere else to go. After all, all we need for this hobby is a good piece of ground, and it's all around us!

Good luck at the meeting, and I'd like to hear an update.

Kilika

 

[dugupfinds]

Hi from the UK.

If you think your right & you got balls, call their bluff. Go down the Police station & waste their time & paper. I bet they won't bother.

 

[gold fish]

First off, what state are you in ??

Secondly, I have to say that if they can't provide any law or ordinance against what you're doing, tell them where to get off, VERY rudely. Don't forget that as an american citizen, we SHOULD have certain rights(I am trying my absolute hardest NOT to get political here), and the rights that we do have need to be protected at all costs.

Go to the city clerk, or some other administrative office and have them sign that there is no orrdinance against what you are doing, then when the police show up, show it to them. If they still have a problem with it, let them arrest you, then call a lawyer. As a matter of fact, in most states the road right-of-ways are controlled by the state, because that is where the funding comes from, so get documentation from the state office, too. Another thing to consider, is that if you are the only one being targeted, and they try to write a law about it, that is discriminatory, and you should contact the state DA's office.

Basically, know your rights, and use them. The police don't have as much power as they like to tell themselves.