Park Ranger with nothing better to do.

[MarySeminole]

I detected in front of a gov. building and a disgruntled citizen pulled into the parking lot right in front of me with his "partner".
I wasn't making a mess or digging trenches. I walked to my truck and put my detector away and right then, the Power Ranger showed up and parked right next to me.
It was obvious that I irked the "couple" and I left.
Don't people have better things to do?

 

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[cudamark]

I detected in front of a gov. building and a disgruntled citizen pulled into the parking lot right in front of me with his "partner".
I wasn't making a mess or digging trenches. I walked to my truck and put my detector away and right then, the Power Ranger showed up and parked right next to me.
It was obvious that I irked the "couple" and I left.
Don't people have better things to do?

To answer your question......NO they don't! That's why it's better to avoid those knuckleheads to begin with. Detect those areas at off hours when the busy bodies are sleeping or doing something else. You never know what kind of clout a complainer has. Even if it's total legal and you have "permission" to detect and area, you upset the right person, and that permission is worthless. It doesn't even matter if you're doing absolutely no harm. I had one woman complain that my detector was making a noise that upset her dog! Really, I was just walking along swinging and hadn't even dug one plug. The same woman probably complains about anything.......frisbee flying, ball playing, picnicking, etc. Some people you just can't please, so, just do your best to avoid them.

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

haha, mark , you mean you CAN'T please every last person on the planet ? Shame on you, haha.

Kind of like nose-picking: Rather than trying to get everyone to sign off to allow you to pick your nose, and despite how legal it may be, you STILL pick .... uh .... "discreet" times so as not to offend the squeamish. Much wiser than trying to get the world to condone you.

Some people will call this "sneaking around". Ok, fine then, SNEAK AROUND, doh!

 

[cudamark]

Thank you for your service vp. I didn't mean to imply that LEO's were to blame for our woes. At least, as long as they don't let their personal bias enter the equation. That's why I'd rather avoid the whole confrontation problem altogether. My problem is with the complainer, not the LEO doing his job and responding.

 

[ARC]

Can't a person look up laws/rules for himself , to see if anything there says "no md'ing allowed"? Muni laws and codes can be looked up afterall. And when you ask cops/rangers what do they base it on ? Actual laws/codes, or personal whim/mood ? Do you ask about "metal detecting", or do you include the words "dig" and "hole", etc... ?

Well tom... I can tell you this.
Wording on such things round here are "loose" and almost open to interpretation.
IF you can even find any...
For example...
There are NO "laws/rules" to "look up" as you say in MOST instances here.
Not like its posted somewhere online.. OR at a park on some sign.

So... that being said... You have to ask to know for sure.

And... It has never failed me EVEN when I have asked and been told yes...
Then approached by someone else who says something about it...
I point and say... "so and so said it was ok"... which throws them for a loop.

PS... Try a search on MD laws here... Florida... Anywhere...

Good luck on your very .... very.... very ... long journey to knowledge just above your knowledge on it before you started.

In other words...
You are at the mercy of whoever lays eyes on you... period...
And if you spout out about rules ... this that and the other that "you looked up"...
Lol...
Here your arse will be in jail till you post bond or till they think that you may be right.

Welcome to the south

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Fair answers AARC. You say:

....There are NO "laws/rules" to "look up" as you say in MOST instances here.
Not like its posted somewhere online.. OR at a park on some sign ...

Hard to believe that there are zero rules of use. Oh sure, perhaps not on the park sign. But ANY forum of public land (city, county, state, fed), HAS to have laws/rules/ordinances somewhere. If you don't know where that is, you can always take this approach: Ask them: Where can I avail myself of the laws (city charter, muni codes, etc...) ? If they say "what is it that you wanted to know?", you stick to your guns and say : "To see the laws , park rules, etc...". They will direct you to a net-link, or to where it exists in binder form at the counter at city hall, etc...

And even if it were true that there were "no laws", then gee, to me that simply means that there is no law prohibiting me to metal detect, eh ?

.... So... that being said... You have to ask to know for sure...

Curious : If there is "no laws", then what would they be basing their answer on ? Personal Whim? Mood? If I had the the feeling I'd just been given an arbitrary safe "no", I would not at all like that. I might be tempted to ask "what is that based on, and where is that written?"

.... when I have asked and been told yes .....

And on the surface , those "yes's" would seem to substantiate that "it's a good thing I asked", right ? Actually, even a "no" could cause you to conclude the same thing: " gee it's a good thing I asked, otherwise I could have been arrested". Hence whether a "yes" or a "no", either answer seems further proof that asking was a necessary step. Right ? The MERE FACT that they can answer "yes" or "no" subconsciously cements that notion. Otherwise, how could they have answered either way, if there permission hadn't been necessary from the git-go ?

But authority doesn't work like that. For example, can you imagine them answering in this way: "That's a funny question. Why are you asking me? You don't need my/our permission, if it's not prohibited". No. Authority never does that. They will bestow on you their princely "yes" or "no", since, afterall, you asked. And that merely implies their-say-so was needed (lest why else would you be asking?).

So a "yes" someone gets (or even a "no"), does not mean to me that permission is necessary. And also various persons have gotten "yes's" which they whip out to show any busy-body. But the busy body gets on their cell-phone, calls to city hall and says: "But he's tearing the place up!" (which isn't true, of course). Then guess what happens to your permission ?

Yes a "yes" is better than a "no", don't get me wrong. But I'd just be worried that I could likewise have gotten a "no", where, quite frankly, detecting isn't an issue, nor ever has been.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... when I have asked and been told yes .....

And on the surface , those "yes's" would seem to substantiate that "it's a good thing I asked", right ? Actually, even a "no" could cause you to conclude the same thing: " gee it's a good thing I asked, otherwise I could have been arrested". Hence whether a "yes" or a "no", either answer seems to further collaborate that asking was a necessary step. Right ? The MERE FACT that they can answer "yes" or "no" subconsciously cements that notion. Otherwise, how could they have answered either way, if there permission hadn't been necessary from the git-go ?

But authority doesn't work like that. For example, can you imagine them answering in this way: "That's a funny question. Why are you asking me? You don't need my/our permission, if it's not prohibited". No. Authority never does that. They will bestow on you their princely "yes" or "no", since, afterall, you asked. And that merely implies their-say-so was needed (lest why else would you be asking?).

So a "yes" someone gets (or even a "no"), does not mean to me that permission is necessary. And also various persons have gotten "yes's" which they whip out to show any busy-body. But the busy body gets on their cell-phone, calls to city hall and says: "But he's tearing the place up!" (which isn't true, of course). Then guess what happens to your permission ?

Yes a "yes" is better than a "no", don't get me wrong. But I'd just be worried that I could likewise have gotten a "no", where, quite frankly, detecting isn't an issue, nor ever has been.

 

[ivan salis]

--federal govt property in most cases is "off limits" to detecting -- state govt land are also often off limits as well without "express in writing permission" and while asking forgiveness is often easier than asking permission , the officer might not be in a "forgiving mood" that day and you might get ticketed and your gear taken away -- or even worse .... arrested for "trespassing" and damage to public lands if he's feeling real "frisky 'that day...sadly if busy bodies call the cops --the cops got to go to where the dispatcher sends em to and "check it out" ..the cops are just doing their jobs ... the real problem is the "buzy bodies"..in the first place..and bs laws ..

 

[clv]

I just tell them that there is a lot of nails and other junk that need to be removed and that I am just doing my job (an orange vest helps).
I don't tell them that I am working for myself.

 

[The Dirt Pirate]

That's why when I detect I go where there's no chance of running into people. I've had a lot of bad run ins in the past with people that have some sort of issue with anyone they see with a detector in their hand. I even had a man pull a gun on me for detecting a park once. I also had someone sick their dogs on me for detecting a park and they weren't small dogs either they were a rottweiler and a pitbull.

 

[patiodadio]

What really burns my buns is....Crime is rampant, drugs, shootings, robberies etc and the cops want to bust an old retired gut with a metal detector.

 

[enamel7]

Well, not to get political, but if I were detecting at my local park and two same sex people were having sex and threw a condom out the window? Well they would be dealt with politically incorrectly, as in tire iron!

 

[SoCalDesertFox]

That's why when I detect I go where there's no chance of running into people. I've had a lot of bad run ins in the past with people that have some sort of issue with anyone they see with a detector in their hand. I even had a man pull a gun on me for detecting a park once. I also had someone sick their dogs on me for detecting a park and they weren't small dogs either they were a rottweiler and a pitbull.

And you didn't have the police called and the dogs impounded why?

 

[Digger Max]

No, no. Park Rangers are not only police/peace officers with full police power, but also they are quite often STATE or FEDERAL officers to boot, depending upon the park.

And I can guarantee you they're far better armed than ANY cop. At Citrus Sate Park in Riverside, California, there's an M-79, M-16, MP-5, and an M32 FOR EVERY SINGLE RANGER, not including their shotguns and sidearms. I've seen the armory. I know where I'm going in case of zombie apoc and it's not going to be ANY police station, it's going to be to Nat'l Guard or Park Ranger station.

Zombies.......Really?

 

[SoCalDesertFox]

Zombies.......Really?

It's more plausible than you think. Toxoplasmosis is shown to dramatically alter behavior in rodents, to where fear drive doesn't kick in and they'll walk right up to a predator such as a cat and attack without any sense of self-preservation. We have a fungus that infects ants and makes them climb up very high (bearing in mind these are ground ants,) where the fungus can erupt out of the ant's head and send its spores out far and wide.

Nature's already got zombies for some species. I'm sure it'd only be a matter of time before some human figured out a way to do that to other humans, and as medical knowledge progresses, so does the chance of that possibility occurring.

Just speaking as a former biology researcher.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

--federal govt property in most cases is "off limits" to detecting -- state govt land are also often off limits as well without "express in writing permission" ..

This is not correct. Lots of federal land (like NFS and BLM for instance) is not off-limits to metal detecting. And state lands are not off-limits "unless you have express written permission" . Where are you getting this ? We hunt state of CA beaches till we're blue in the face (and no, it doesn't need their "permission"). FL too they hunt state beaches ad nauseam. And for inland state parks , there's lots of states with no specific prohibition. Fed and state land is getting detected all the time, over all the 50 states.

 

[cooper1841]

This is not correct. Lots of federal land (like NFS and BLM for instance) is not off-limits to metal detecting. And state lands are not off-limits "unless you have express written permission" . Where are you getting this ? We hunt state of CA beaches till we're blue in the face (and no, it doesn't need their "permission"). FL too they hunt state beaches ad nauseam. And for inland state parks , there's lots of states with no specific prohibition. Fed and state land is getting detected all the time, over all the 50 states.

Within 10 miles from my house is a State game Area, over 1000 acres of trails, woods, streams, etc it is used for hunting , four wheeling, target shooting, hiking, sking, mushroom hunting, and everything else you can imagine, noboby ask permission, thats absurd. Within the foot print of this State property, are lots of old homesites, that were purchased by the State to create this. I metal detect, why would I ask permission? the mushroom hunters, and hikers, or fishermen dont One of our State Park/ Beach has metal detecting, listed on it's web site as an activity to enjoy, during your stay

 

[cudamark]

--federal govt property in most cases is "off limits" to detecting -- state govt land are also often off limits as well without "express in writing permission" and while asking forgiveness is often easier than asking permission , the officer might not be in a "forgiving mood" that day and you might get ticketed and your gear taken away -- or even worse .... arrested for "trespassing" and damage to public lands if he's feeling real "frisky 'that day...sadly if busy bodies call the cops --the cops got to go to where the dispatcher sends em to and "check it out" ..the cops are just doing their jobs ... the real problem is the "buzy bodies"..in the first place..and bs laws ..

Possible? Sure, anything is possible. Likely? Nah..... Can you come up with any examples of someone getting ticketed, gear confiscated, and/or arrested for simply detecting on state/federal land that isn't an obvious historic site?

 

[ivan salis]

felling lucky about knowingly breaking the law ? -- sometimes you get away with it , sometimes you don't - (hey robbing banks is legal as long as you don't get caught , right?) - so go ahead try your luck , but then do not ***** and moan about getting busted when you crap out one day and you get busted by a non forgiving type cop , hell bent on enforcing "the rules / law "..

 

[cudamark]

We're not talking about property that has a hard and fast rule against detecting. You claimed that it would happen on any federal or state land. Most of those lands have no prohibitions against detecting as such. Show me an instance of someone being ticketed or prosecuted in any way for simply detecting on their property.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... knowingly breaking the law ? -- sometimes you get away with it , sometimes you don't -...

If the equivalence were really on-par with robbing banks, then everything you're saying would logically follow. But I do not draw that moral equivalence.

This is one of those "spitting on sidewalks" kind of things. Eg.: Sure, if you ask enough purist archies, sure, you'll get such info (heck, even some dire sounding laws to back them up). But if we start down THAT path, then there's not a public place you md ivan, where .... give me 5 min. on google, and I can find a reason why you too shouldn't detect. Where does it ever stop ?