Brush with the law...

lou423 · Apr 21, 2008

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 · Apr 21, 2008

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'

lou423 · Apr 22, 2008

Good advice...Diggem

John Wayne, an american icon.

EDDE · Apr 22, 2008

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 · Apr 22, 2008

You should have asked him if you could detect the area around the police station when you were done at the school.

SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS · Apr 22, 2008

"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 · Apr 22, 2008

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 · Apr 22, 2008

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) · Apr 27, 2008

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 · Apr 27, 2008

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 · Apr 28, 2008

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 · Jun 12, 2008

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 · Jun 19, 2008

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....

were562 · Nov 9, 2008

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....

Lookin hahaha... maybe
i still think he was just interested.

Shortstack · Nov 11, 2008

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 ".

The police are not shy about letting people know when they're screwing up.

Monty · Nov 11, 2008

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 · Nov 11, 2008

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 · Nov 11, 2008

i have been know to night hunt at the local school with a beer in one hand......

Skrimpy · Nov 11, 2008

jorge del norte said:
i have been know to night hunt at the local school with a beer in one hand......

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.