Cop said you can't do that here.

[Liu21]

So while i was digging in my hole, a police SUV came up behind me and pulls up alongside me.
The officer (A) on the driver side asked, "What are you doing?
I : Metal detecting.

Officer A : "Do you work for the parks department"?

I : no, sir.

Officer A : "Well, you cant do that here."

I : Well, I have a permit.

Officer A : Let me see it, *Gets out of the vehicle.

Im thinking, here we go again... *gets up, pull out my wallet and dig out my MDing permit, unfolds it and hands it over to the officer.



Officer A: is actively looking over my permit.

Officer B came over from the other side. both looking at my permit,

Officer B : reads out half of line 7.

Me : I fill in all my holes and leave the area like i was never here. while gesturing with my hand to where i had been. I then inform Officer A, who was still looking at my permit, that the parks department added a whole list of new parks to the allowed list for metal detecting, it's on the back. Officer A, flips the permit over and says "Brooklyn".... "XXXXXX Park". Officer A then flips the permit back over and continues looking at my permit, say something of the sort "Look at how its just written in" to officer B. He then asks how did i get the permit, I said I mailed the application to 123 something in the city, the parks department office. Officer A : and this is what they maill back to you? I, yep.

Officer A : alright Im going to have to look it up with the park's official, because the permit dont look official. while handing me back my permit. They then get back in their vehicle, I said you can always go to the parks department website and look it up.

Officer A : That's not the thing, I still to have to check with parks official.

Me : okay, have a nice day.

officers drives away.....

about 10 minutes later, a park staff person comes over and say "Just make sure you fill in your holes" I reply with I always do.

Why do i get the feeling the Cop was thinking This guy is going to get a summons today! but The law was on my side and he felt bitter, that i got the better of him, because when I said "Have a nice day", he didnt say anything back, and I got the impression he was not happy or pleased.

Anyways i scored silver early on today's dig, two rosies from one hole, and a nice small sterling silver ring to end it...

 

[Liu21]

Oops, wrong forum, mods please move to metal detecting forum, thank you!

 

[Terry Soloman]

That is why you MUST carry that FREE NYC permit!

 

[beerguy]

Great story, but can Terry please explain the "Free NYC" thing?

 

[Liu21]

Great story, but can Terry please explain the "Free NYC" thing?

The permit is free in NYC, you just need to apply for it.

 

[Liu21]

That is why you MUST carry that FREE NYC permit!

Terry, I always do, because believe it or not, there are ignorant people in this world. I was at Fort Greene park one day, and a Park ranger walked over from the main building saying you cant dig in this park, etc etc... well I told him i have a permit etc. etc. and he was all okay with it. I was willing to bet someone went to the main and told him, someone was digging in the park, out back etc... Both not knowing that metal detecting is allowed, having that permit comes in more handy than a shovel...

 

[JoeB_OH]

We have a similar Permit here, in the Cleveland Metro parks. I keep mine ready , on my phone too. They "Give" you a free permit, but you pay for it with time being hassled. - I think they are All just salty because we're out having fun detecting & they are working?
Keep on digging!!

 

[LI Tom]

In 10 years detecting NYC parks I've never been approached by a city cop,rangers many times asking for permits,with a few not even knowing there was a parks dept. permit.

 

[wingmaster]

Yep a lot of those aren't nice guys, they might have felt a lot better if they could have ruined your day. HH

 

[Liu21]

In 10 years detecting NYC parks I've never been approached by a city cop,rangers many times asking for permits,with a few not even knowing there was a parks dept. permit.

about two weeks ago, i was at shore Road park, Two Park Rangers came up to me, one of them asked me for my MD permit so show the new guy so he knows what it looks like. I show them, and they handed it back to me and said, "Okay, Hope you find something good". Just like that they went on their way. The interaction was all smooth and cool. This recent interaction with the cops, i felt like a degraded person, that was out there with a forged document or something by questioning the authenticity of my permit. When they couldn't write me a summons.

 

[WhiteTornado]

Glad it worked out in the end. The way you describe it, almost sounds like the officer was trying to fulfill his monthly ticket quota or something. Funny how the officer said it "didn't look official", yet it's what the Parks department gave you.

I have a similar one for one of my local jurisdictions, where part of it is hand-written by one of the Parks department staff. Now I am wondering if a police officer would question it, saying it "doesn't look official".

 

[Carolina Tom]

You said that the guys were police officers patrolling Brooklyn... and they didn't seem happy when you turned out to be correct... huh? That's odd.

 

[rick67]

Quotas is what it's all about in the city.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Liu21: thanx for posting your story. It's stories like that , that are the reason most of my turf hunting is done at night. So peaceful. So serene As your story shows, even "permission" and city's that issue "permits" is still not the end-all cat's meow. ANYONE can still gripe. Because let's face it: detecting has connotations

Also , while the notion of "permits" evokes blissful images of being able to detect "nilly willy" and "deflect busy-bodies" (like in your case it did here), yet it is still much preferred that a city code simply be silent on the subject. Neither expressly allowing (like in your city's permit) nor expressly forbidding.

Because any time a city has ever dreamed up a "permit", they are usually fraught with silly-ness. Like "on sandy beaches only", or "not within 10 ft. of any tree", or "yes but surface targets only, no digging", or "turn in everything to the city" or "digger tool shall not exceed 3" length", blah blah blah.

And then what usually happens next in cities that ever dreamed up permits, is that one year they revoke the whole system entirely. The reason for this is, that the MERE FACT they issue a permit, simply means it's perpetually on their plates as "something to think about". Ie.: it comes up annually on the list of things on their radar. And then sure as heck, one year some brilliant bureaucrat asks: "Gee, do we really want all these yahoos digging up our parks ?". And they revoke it altogether. Hence better that it's simply silent on the matter

 

[ivan salis]

some cops like to give out "easy tickets" to get their quota out of the way....

 

[cudamark]

Do you have to pass some sort of test or demonstrate your skills to get the permit? If not, and anyone can get one for free, what is the purpose of the permit in the first place? Oh, that's right.....like Tom and other mentioned, to raise revenue by issuing tickets to those without a current license, or maybe for future charges or restrictions for getting and using one. I know, I'm getting cynical in my old age, but, I'm always suspicious of government motives.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Do you have to pass some sort of test or demonstrate your skills to get the permit? If not, and anyone can get one for free, what is the purpose of the permit in the first place? ....

I'll bet you dollars to donuts that a lot of "permits" got dreamed up simply because md'rs went in asking "can I?" type questions in the past.

Example of this: In my city, some kids were practicing an agility hobby called "slack-lining". That's where they string a tight-rope between two trees, about a foot or so off the ground. And then you can do various balancing tricks and stunts (as seen on youtube). The hobby took off with kids at a school , who would meet after school at a park to do it.

One day, they invited a friend to join them. The young lad went home and asked his mom "can I go with Billy and Johnny at the park to do slacklining?". The curious mom wanted to know what that was. The kid did the best he could to explain, so the mom called the parks dept. to "make sure it's ok". She got bandied around desk to desk, till finally her "pressing question" landed on the desk of the city "aborist" (hey, afterall, the question concerned trees, eh ?). The arborist said "no" (it, might harm the tree bark, yeah right).

That led to parent's outcries and meetings as city hall to resolve the issue. I mean, sheesskk, how can the city be such kill-joys to kids who are practicing an innocent hobby and staying out of trouble ? The final result was : A permit and lots of rules associated with it.

So too is it with md'ing in a lot of cases I bet: If you trace back to "rules" and "permits", I bet the genesis is md'rs themselves swatting hornet's nests.

 

[G.I.B.]

I'll bet you dollars to donuts that a lot of "permits" got dreamed up simply because md'rs went in asking "can I?" type questions in the past.

Example of this: In my city, some kids were practicing an agility hobby called "slack-lining". That's where they string a tight-rope between two trees, about a foot or so off the ground. And then you can do various balancing tricks and stunts (as seen on youtube). The hobby took off with kids at a school , who would meet after school at a park to do it.

One day, they invited a friend to join them. The young lad went home and asked his mom "can I go with Billy and Johnny at the park to do slacklining?". The curious mom wanted to know what that was. The kid did the best he could to explain, so the mom called the parks dept. to "make sure it's ok". She got bandied around desk to desk, till finally her "pressing question" landed on the desk of the city "aborist" (hey, afterall, the question concerned trees, eh ?). The arborist said "no" (it, might harm the tree bark, yeah right).

That led to parent's outcries and meetings as city hall to resolve the issue. I mean, sheesskk, how can the city be such kill-joys to kids who are practicing an innocent hobby and staying out of trouble ? The final result was : A permit and lots of rules associated with it.

So too is it with md'ing in a lot of cases I bet: If you trace back to "rules" and "permits", I bet the genesis is md'rs themselves swatting hornet's nests.

Tom, can you post a link to the slackline rules that were made?

Is there somewhere we (slack line wanna-be's) can read the rule and find out what the fees are and what they require for the permit?

 

[can]

way to go...nice finds

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Tom, can you post a link to the slackline rules that were made?....

why ? Do you doubt such an evolution could exist ? It (the asking permissions or "can we?" questions) resulted in rules. Initially a "no'. But eventually a "yes", given certain conditions. Eg.: have to put a rubber cushion material @ the rope/cable where it contacts the tree . Lest (heaven forbid) you harm the tree bark And perhaps things like safety helmets, etc....

Not sure if they were in conjunction with a "permit" . Or simply "no's" and/or "rules". But the point remains (whether riddled with rules or permits): the genesis was someone's asking bored bureaucrats. And while this particular link doesn't say what transpired PRIOR to this guy's run-in, it was as I say: A "concerned mom", at some point earlier, had sought clarification/permission. If you google through enough hits, you'll get to earlier sources than this.

Suffice it to say it's going to be very difficult to ever get a link to some bureaucrat saying "We made such & such rule because someone asked permission. Yet prior to that, we never gave the matter thought before, nor would ever have cared". No no no: No one in authority will ever answer like that. Instead they will cite "holes", or the "damage it causes trees" (yeah right), etc... But since I'm local to this city, I happen to know what precipitated EVEN all of that. And it was as I cite above. It might be on a google search, not sure. At a certain point, several concerned parents took their concerns to city hall to "object to this unfair rule". Well gee, that just puts it on the lexicon of every cop in town now, eh? Such that when/if he sees another slack-liner, he's bound to think "aha! there's one of *them*", and start booting others. This is just the top hit I found right now. But if you care to sleuth further, you can connect the dots.

Slacklining fan wants rules loosened