Cops ran me off last night. Need advice for further action.

[montepollock]

In Cass,county missouri I ran into the same thing.
Even sat thru a BOE meeting along with the city.
The subject?discussing who had the authority to say yay or nay.
When that question was tabled until next meeting without resolution,I had to give it up as a lost cause.
Hope Things work out and common sense prevails.
Happy Hunting,Mont

 

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[Monty]

If you do go to your city council meeting or whatever governing body you use there, be sure to call the secretary and have the item placed on the agenda. One of their favorite dodges is to say you're not on the agenda and therefore will refuse to hear your complaint. It may be worth your time to do a power point presentation showing how little damage detecting does to the property, and be sure to point out the difference between a detectorist who is a hobbyist rather than a true treasure hunter. When you say tresure hunter many automaticaly picture a guy with a big shovel digging up a treasure trove. And, take some of your fellow detectorists with you as backup and plan out how you want to shape your presentation. Monty

 

[khouse]

When I hunt our schools I go about 6am Sunday mornings. When cars start showing up I leave. Usually after church.

 

[hammong]

"The stuff you may find in the ground is public property and you can't have it." [WTF? Seriously?]

Here in Baltimore County, that statement is 100% accurate. The metal detecting permits (which you can get from the country parks department for free) even have it printed right on the permit. Anything you find, you have to (legally) turn in to the park office. As for school property, you DO need permission to legally hunt the property and the same stipulation applies - anything on the the property, the flowers, the dirt, the coins in the dirt, etc. are all county property.

Greg

 

[scaupus]

I consider what we do a form of gleaning, which is endorsed by the Biblical injunction to farmers to let the 'poor' collect the fallen grain. There is a strong tendency historically for society to tolerate gleaning to a certain extent - trash pickers, metal recyclers, rag-pickers - and metal detectorists in public spaces. The thing is, there are certain understood limits. Trash pickers can pick from trash piles on the street, generally no problem; people actually approve of recycling and restoring value, and are even a little ashamed that they are trashing useful things and materials. Things get a little iffy if we open the lids on their closed trash containers, even if they are on the street. Going up on private property to go through a trash can is of course verboten.

No trespassing signs are sort of a dead give-away that you shouldn't go there. I see them on school grounds around my town now, as school security has become more of an issue in the last couple of decades. However, these signs are not universally popular or acknowledged, even by the police. Public use of school grounds for recreation has been a traditional use since the beginning of public education. Especially in areas not well-served by parks, this has been an important function of school fields and playgrounds.

I was metal detecting at my own old elementary school (1st grade: 1959), while a family was tossing around a ball nearby, when a city cop who was lurking among the portables (honestly!) appeared and checked me out. He gave me the nod to continue - discreetly. His exact words "be careful, you are on school grounds."

I don't think the board chairman will give you a written note, nor will he ask the superintendent to approve your digging - it's just not politic do that. Since the superintendent is the administrator of last resort, I think you are out-of-luck with that.

You were there at the wrong time with the wrong cop (or, whoever called the cop). The trick may be to go there when the field is not being used. However, if that same cop sees you again, and feels you've violated his warning or disrespected him, and particularly if he feels he needs an arrest, he might just nab you.

Run, metal-detector guy, run!

 

[10pan]

I know how frustrating it is to be treated like a criminal for metal detecting, prospecting and treasure hunting. I have been harrassed by "regulators" in North GA for a long time. I once was threatened with jail and confiscation of vehical, equip. etc. if they caught me in a particular area agian. This was on private property and I had written permission from the land owner!! Most of my trouble however has been with the forrest service, so I am wondering about your statement in your original post about it being legal to MD on FS.

 

[fibberjibber]

Ok, my turn for a different take on this matter. Now, as a disclaimer, I did not read ALL of the posts on here- it got too lengthy and they all started to read about the same. I am going to approach this from my own background and experiences which many feel conflict with MDing (higher academic and political).

1. Blend. MDing is, to put it mildly, controversial in the eye of Joe Public. It is a close cousin to the popularized deep-sea treasure hunting. To some it is thievery. To others we are digging holes and making a mess. But to most, it can be a form of jealous awareness- wanting whatever it is we are digging up, and you know it MUST be gold coins that guy just dug out of the playground. Dont detect when there is a ball game going on. You may as well be chasing a ball in traffic. You will get nailed. And it will hurt. A lot.

2. Get written permission if possible from your friend/ ex teach. Written permission is better than oral permission is better than no permission is better than a no. Know who to ask and how. In the future, when you are confronted with an imbecile like the fellow who spouted off about untold treasures under his playgrounds, thank him for his time and walk away. Then go next door. Dont come back later and ask his wife which is pretty much what you are thinking about doing here at a board meeting. What do you think the person he goes to bed with is going to say? And pissing him off more wont win her over either. Get the analogy? Now, you still have permission to hunt another property. Go hit that one. Preferably when someone isnt planting flowers or for petes sake not while there is a school picnic or something going on.

3. The law is not on your side. Despite your luck living someplace where there are not extensive rules or laws preventing you from detecting on public property, that can change faster than a fart. The second you go to your town board or whatever and have it on the agenda, its public and printed in the local paper. Suddenly, instead of a little private matter, Joe Public is going to pop in and raise some concerns. And ANY little mess some past MDer left that anyone can remember will be brought up in spades. It doesnt even have to have happened in your county. Could be a mess on a beach in Tahiti in 1970 while Ernest and Olivia were on their honeymoon or a simple swingers getaway. Before you know it, a conversation is begun and a decision will be postponed until next month when it will be put on the agenda again for more public input and some official research done. They may even appoint a committee. How grand! See where this is going? And you just wanted to win your little pissing contest.

4. Share. Instead of circumventing the Supergoof and involving the school board, why dont you approach the local historical society and get them involved with your "project" (see more on this word in number 5). If you work with them and are willing to give them some of the really cool historical finds- assuming you find some (like old school tags, etc.) they may be very interested in what you find and will support you. You could even put on a display for them during an open house or historical event in the town. Or go through them to contact the local 6th grade teachers to see if they would like to do something with the kids for the history aspect of it, possibly do a seeded dig and have the kids work to identify things and the history behind them. This brings the community together and puts a very nice spotlight on you and the hobby in the eyes of Joe Public. If it works, make sure the paper is involved too. It all helps.

5. Get a thesaurus. No matter what path you choose to take, even if you think Im bonkers and you still want to confront the board, your word choice will make all the difference. Its amazing how fast walls are put up in people's minds and ears as soon as the wrong words come out. Instead of a hobby, how about a project? Projects have goals and often can have an educational slant. Instead digging (which can sound more like 'excavating' to untrained ears), tell them you are pinpointing targets and pulling them out. Then hold out the handful of pop tops, torn aluminum and rusted iron and tell them that cleaning up the area also keeps the little kids from getting cuts in their hands. 'Can you imagine the lawsuits if one of these ended up piercing a toddler's shoe and into their foot??' You dont have to tell them the rusted nail was 6" down. Which brings me to my last point.

6. Dont tell Joe Public everything. For one thing, they dont really WANT to know every little detail anyways. The official looking folks, some with badges, just want to know you are not going to make the place look like the fairway on Caddyshack. They also want to make sure you are not robbing the place of either history or history-making hoards of gold. Keep the reality to describing how many cups of coffee you can buy at the local lunch counter with the change you find each morning. Then tell them its a relaxing way to get away from your wife or husband for a couple hours. Think of it as going fishing but not caring if you catch fish. 'Please dont take that little slice of heaven away from me!'.

Above all, avoid confrontation. But when Joe Public does come around, invite them to take a look. It takes away the mystique, and puts a friendly face on the weird guy with the headphones on. Keep it real. Keep it honest. And keep it going. Good luck!

 

[doglover]

I don't ever go when there is a lot of people in a park or anywhere else like a schoolyard. The more people there are, the greater the chance that there is a doug or wendy whiner there that loves to get attention by going to the local authorities and complaining about something. Theres a reason why most other creatures avoid humans. Just kidding. Go early in the morning or on a cold day when most of them are staying in. I was going to metal detect today in a local park but a lot of people started showing up so I left. The fewer prying eyes and busy bodies you have around the better.

 

[khouse]

I don't ever go when there is a lot of people in a park or anywhere else like a schoolyard. The more people there are, the greater the chance that there is a doug or wendy whiner there that loves to get attention by going to the local authorities and complaining about something. Theres a reason why most other creatures avoid humans. Just kidding. Go early in the morning or on a cold day when most of them are staying in. I was going to metal detect today in a local park but a lot of people started showing up so I left. The fewer prying eyes and busy bodies you have around the better.

I agree with the above statement. This is the way I do it.