Brush with the law...

lou423

Hero Member
Dec 14, 2005
505
8
S.W. Tennessee
Detector(s) used
Tesoro. Minelab. Fisher.
I was detecting at a local school...
I heard a car behind me...It was a police car...
Have you found anything? Three pennies, I said.
Ok.
He leaves.
Ten minutes later he is back.
He parks close to where I am detecting, stay for ten minutes, then leaves again.
I packed up my detector and left.

As usual, our hobby is in danger.
Thanks for reading.


No need to reply to this post.
 

diggemall

Hero Member
Apr 19, 2006
887
24
northeast Wisconsin
Detector(s) used
Fisher CZ3D, BH Discovery 3300
I woulda told him: "Hey, if you got nuthin better to do - hang around - it's kinda fun to see what turns up, and I don't mind the company" I doubt he would've come back again.

Diggem'
 

EDDE

Gold Member
Dec 7, 2004
7,129
65
Detector(s) used
Troy X5
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
lou423 said:
I was detecting at a local school...
I heard a car behind me...It was a police car...
Have you found anything? Three pennies, I said.
Ok.
He leaves.
Ten minutes later he is back.
He parks close to where I am detecting, stay for ten minutes, then leaves again.
I packed up my detector and left.

As usual, our hobby is in danger.
Thanks for reading.


No need to reply to this post.
your reading into this WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to much
 

garyf

Full Member
Jul 10, 2007
222
0
Michigan
Detector(s) used
X-Terra 70
You should have asked him if you could detect the area around the police station when you were done at the school.
 

SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS

Gold Member
May 22, 2005
7,205
60
Primary Interest:
Other
"As usual, our hobby is in danger"
???

Sounds like he was just making his rounds.
???

If you think that is a, "brush with the law",....
.................................

have a good un....
SHERMANVILLE
 

hollowpointred

Gold Member
Mar 12, 2005
6,871
56
Detector(s) used
Minelab Explorer SE/Garrett GTI 2500/ Ace 250
relax, he was probably just writing up some paperwork at the end of his shift and figured he would hang out to see if you found anything. if he had a problem with you he would have said so.
 

jeff of pa

Super Moderator
Staff member
Dec 19, 2003
85,781
59,574
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
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Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS said:
"As usual, our hobby is in danger"
???

Sounds like he was just making his rounds.
???

If you think that is a, "brush with the law",....
.................................

have a good un....
SHERMANVILLE

I agree. Maybe he was Curious if you found anything Cool after he left the first time,
Felt uncomfortable asking again and was hoping you would go over to him
for a talk.
it happens.
He may also hive gotten a complaint after the first visit.
and instead of hasseling you, he just decided to make
his presence Known to the neighborhood Busy-Body
or Coward who sees Terrorists around every corner.

No danger if not Warned.

One spot I did Last year I went to the Police
Station and had the police Write up a report on me (he called it an "Incident")
as a detectorist (treasure hunter). the report Included drivers Info Etc.
So when he went off duty the next shift would not have any questions.
It also made me more Comfortable Hunting the Woods behind everyones homes.
I was no longer in fear of being labeled a Prowler.

He may have also done this before going off for the night.
 

George (MN)

Hero Member
May 16, 2005
829
98
Maybe they always park there to do paperwork or whatever. Maybe they're actually interested in detecting. Maybe somebody was digging messy so they wanted to observe your digging techniques.

It's also possible that if you are not recognized as someone who lives nearby, they might watch you more. Maybe someone complained "suspicious person" or someone digging up the place.

At one school I detected on a Sunday in an adjacent suburb the police drove around the block after 1 hour, again after another hour. About an hour later, they drove up the asphalt path & parked their car with the left front tire about 6" from where my hand was, probing with my screwdriver.

I didn't look up or take off my headphones, & AFAIK, they didn't roll down their window. They left after a moment. I'd guess maybe a neighboor complained there's a man they'd never seen before hanging around the school.

Another time years ago my dad & I were detecting an old park. A police officer came up to my dad & said they got a complaint people were digging up the park. The police officer said but your just cutting plugs & replacing them, right? My dad said yes & the officer said some people think of the park as an extension of their front yard. He said this is ridiculous & he was going to tell the dispatcher not to give him any more calls like that.

If you don't like to be the only person at a place when the police are driving by, you could try detecting schools & parks when they're having ballgames. HH, George (MN)
 

rmptr

Silver Member
Dec 25, 2007
3,274
25
Tierra del Fuego
Detector(s) used
Tesoro.Fisher.Garrett
I'm gonna hang with EDDE,

You're reading WAAY to much into it....

The cop was probably just interested, and would just as soon park near you for a bit, than some other place.

rmptr
 

Skrimpy

Bronze Member
Aug 16, 2006
1,300
61
smAlbany, NY
Detector(s) used
DFX
EDDE said:
your reading into this WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to much

I agree. I bet he needed somewhere to sit for his ten minute break and thought he would watch you detect. I have heard of so, so many cops or retired cops that do this for a hobby. Or maybe he was scouting you out to see if you were finding anything good so he could bring his DFX back after his shift was over. If he thought you were doing something you shouldn't be, he would have said something.
 

954hunter

Full Member
Dec 10, 2007
127
1
Ft. Laud. Fl
Detector(s) used
Excal. II
I'll bet he was just curious and wanted to warch you work or maybe he was trying to see if your machine was better than his..........at least thats what I usually do. :tongue3:
 

Lookin

Hero Member
Feb 15, 2008
573
14
Kentucky
Detector(s) used
White's MXT; backup - BH Pioneer 505
Primary Interest:
Other
Wasn't he with the Department that just got their new Tasers in? I bet he was eyeballing you as a candidate for trying out his new Taser on! Probably, he saw someone else off in the distance, so he slipped on out of there rather than zapping you!

Be more careful next time.... :D
 

were562

Greenie
Nov 5, 2008
16
0
british columbia
Detector(s) used
whites MXT
Lookin said:
Wasn't he with the Department that just got their new Tasers in? I bet he was eyeballing you as a candidate for trying out his new Taser on! Probably, he saw someone else off in the distance, so he slipped on out of there rather than zapping you!

Be more careful next time.... :D
Lookin hahaha... maybe
i still think he was just interested.
 

Shortstack

Silver Member
Jan 22, 2007
4,305
416
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Bandido II and DeLeon. also a Detector Pro Headhunter Diver, and a Garrett BFO called The Hunter & a Garrett Ace 250.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I, too, believe he was just curious about the hobby. Police officers certainly can use off-duty ways to relax and get their minds off of their jobs and metal detecting would surely fill that need.
Please believe that if he didn't like what you were up to, you would have been " the first to know ". ;D The police are not shy about letting people know when they're screwing up.
 

Monty

Gold Member
Jan 26, 2005
10,746
166
Sand Springs, OK
Detector(s) used
ACE 250, Garrett
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Paranoia at work here? He probably could care less what you did after he checked you out and saw what you were doing. Monty.
 

savant365

Silver Member
Mar 28, 2007
3,918
71
Northwest Missouri
Detector(s) used
ACE 250
I'll play the devils advocate for you Lou. It could just as easily be that he was there to intimidate you into leaving. He didn't have a legitimate reason to tell you to leave but he didn't want you detecting there so he just parked there and stared you down so you would leave.

Before anyone jumps all over this let me say that I have a great deal of respect for police officers but the world is full of bullies and unfortunately some of the have badges.

HH Charlie
 

jorge del norte

Bronze Member
Dec 22, 2005
1,062
117
nc
Detector(s) used
Nokta Simplex - Tesoro Conquistador Umax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
i have been know to night hunt at the local school with a beer in one hand...... ;D
 

Skrimpy

Bronze Member
Aug 16, 2006
1,300
61
smAlbany, NY
Detector(s) used
DFX
jorge del norte said:
i have been know to night hunt at the local school with a beer in one hand...... ;D

Beer or homebrew? Either way sounds like a good idea to me. Just have to make sure you carry it in the ghetto bag...then when asked you can quickly say "soda", turn around and keep detecting.
 

rmptr

Silver Member
Dec 25, 2007
3,274
25
Tierra del Fuego
Detector(s) used
Tesoro.Fisher.Garrett
jorge del norte said:
i have been know to night hunt at the local school with a beer in one hand...... ;D

Allright Jorge!

I could do that!
Just don't smoke tobacco there!
crazy...
 

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