Mecklenburg Park Ranger (power trip)

[Tackleberry]

Well, i was hunting early this morning on some volleyball courts. It was early morning and i was the only person at the park. I was only on the volleyball courts when a park ranger pulled up in his nice new Ford 150 (my tax dollars pays for) and barks a order over his loud speaker to "get out of here with that metal detector". I approached his truck to talk to him. I explained i am only hunting the sand courts and not defacing or damaging any area. Kind of hard to mess up white sand courts. I showed him a hand full of bottle caps and nails i pulled from the sand and stated I was not damaging anything and actually cleaning up the area. He stated "he did not care and i needed a contract though the city if i wanted to clean up the park". I was standing right next to the posted rules of the park and i said i dont see anything about metal detecting on the rules to, which he replied it doesnt but it says it "in this here law book I have".
I was so tempted to say fine and throw the nails and trash i found back on the court but I didnt. I bit my tongue and left. Needless to say this park ranger was having a power trip and was enjoying the little power he had.

 

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[puroman1]

Well,I would like to say i am surprised but i am not.
One more government yes person who is payed
by tax dollars.

Now if you where a real criminal doing something
he would probably run the other way.

Good honest hard working people now days
seem to just get screwed over IMO.

 

[G.A.P.metal]

Some customer service !

 

[Tackleberry]

Yes i was pissed off. I am not going to let it deter me from hunting it again. These are very popular volleyball courts and i have found lots of goodies there.

I am wondering if this particular park ranger (black guy) had a bias towards me. He was extremely rude and you could sense the distaste he had towards me. I was in no way disrespectful towards him. I dont know, i just have been thinking about it all day and lack of common sense he showed. I mean it was 730am and i was the only person there. No reason for him to do it. If it happens again i will make him show me in his "law book" as he calls it. Be funny watching him dig through it.

 

[Rawhide]

I would ask for a copy of the law. I also would ask your state rep to keep the govt shut down permanently so these park fellows will go home.

 

[Produce Guy]

I went out to a park that has a volley ball sand pit that gets used allot so instead of taking my MD out I took the pro-pointer out and found 2 silver chains & 5 dimes.I had nobody even ask what I was doing

 

[charlotte49er]

The Meck Co rules state that you can not deface park property. MOST of the time they will include any form of digging as defacing park property. Now if you just detect on the surface, they USUALLY don't say anything. (Unless they see a digger on you.)

We dredge in a very well known creek here in Meck. Both the CharMeck Police and the Parks & Rec people don't say anything unless you are in the banks. Stay in the water, and they have never said a word.

Civil Penalty for Violation
$ 50.00 SECTION 5: No person shall willfully and intentionally remove, destroy, cut down, scar, mutilate, injure, take or gather in any manner any tree, flower, fern, shrub, rock, artifact or other plant or mineral in any park unless authorized by permit.

$ 50.00 SECTION 6: No person shall willfully and intentionally in any manner injure, deface, disturb, destroy, or disfigure any part of any park or any building, sign, equipment or other property found therein.

 

[Carolina Tom]

I called Charlotte Mecklenburg Parks and discussed MDing with them. The deal is that people go to the parks and dig up plants. In order to keep people from "stealing" the plants, they instituted a no digging whatsoever policy. You are not allowed to take anything out of the parks... nothing. I am way too lazy (busy) to argue with them, or start a petition. I will tell you, that if you could detect some of the local parks, I bet that it would be the motherload.
Perhaps someone needs to try to get in front of the Parks and Recs people and have a discussion. I would like to see a permit system, where you get a little basic training in filling in holes and not stealing plants, then you get a little permit and off you go. The local parks are bound to be full of coins.... just filled to the brim.

 

[Rye]

Interesting thread. I work for Mecklenburg County - not the Park and Rec dept. We have bought a lot of flood damaged properties over the past decade and we have problems with people breaking in to steal copper or people will drive to empty cul-de-sacs, where we are buying properties, and they dump all kinds of trash. We always put up no trespassing signs to "attempt" to prevent destructive behavior.

It seems like, from what I've been reading, that actual parks are off limits but nature preserves are not. The nature preserves are out in the middle of no where and I don't believe Park and Rec or any other county agency patrols these sites.

 

[Ramapirate]

I was at the same park this year 2016 in March. I know the park and I met the same ranger. He got me sifting sand at the volleyball courts also. I don't get it, we aren't hurting a thing, we pick up and take away any trash. I'm seriously thinking about getting involved in Mecklenburg County Commissioners and getting it fixed so we can hunt. Everyone else does whatever they want at the park, but we get treated like criminals.

 

[Rawhide]

We have a over abundance of govt employees who dont do their jobs. Too many laws no one can ever hope to follow as we are all criminals as soon as we leave our front doors. Its time we gave the ol Govt a good flush and get back to reality. I have also had good experiences with park rangers. But I never had a detector in my hand. I dont visit the state parks as they have a no digging rule. If more people would just quit going to these places they would dry up and go away. Our state parks are bankrupt due to lack of tourism and folks not willing to pay high park fee's. I personally had a care taker at one such park go off on me and my family. He said we hadnt paid the day fee and demanded a $25.00 dollar fine. Told him to go check the box and he did. I never got a apology. That was my last day in any state park.

 

[neo]

Can't disturb anything by there rules guess that means people can't play sports at the park, make sure there enforcing the rules everyone.

 

[SirWalterRaleigh]

What a jack hole of a park ranger. I hunt in our local parks all the time and have yet to have any trouble. Granted I don't take the shovel unless I feel I like I need some extra protection or reach to pop some sucker with

 

[Gravitytester]

I called the police department before I went to one of our parks. The officer I talked to was polite and respectful. He told me that he didn't know the law and would get back to me. Honestly, I didn't expect to hear from him for a few days if at all. Well in 15 minutes he called back and said there was nothing prohibiting the use of metal detectors in the parks but they did have a ordinance against digging. He didn't know why there was one against digging but he guessed it was a safety concern. He gave me his name, cellphone number and radio number and told me if anyone said anything about having a detector in a park to call him. I found a few coins just surface detecting and had several hits below the surface but I guess we will never know what was down there. Just posted this to show that not all LEO's are on power trips.

 

[SirWalterRaleigh]

Had a run in with a park ranger at Beaver Dam beach at Falls Lake in Raleigh on Memorial Day. Was told I needed a special use permit to only search for lost items while accompanied by a ranger. I knew the rule just didn't think it would be enforced. Was proven wrong but still had a nice 2 hour hunt before hand.

Only found bling, junk ring, clad, a toy corvette, and sunburn lol

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I was confronted by the sheriff's department so many times in the late 80's it ruined the hobby for me and I quit until I picked it back up 3 years ago.

The point I'm making is that you shouldn't let it affect your love of the hobby like it did mine.

 

[Carolina Tom]

I posted on this thread almost two years ago, when I first started hunting.

I have grown quite aggressive and relentless since that time. I have hunted the parks, yeah, even Veteran's park. I don't hunt around the kids, and families, and I stay away during peak times. I have had the opportunity to speak with a ranger or two, and so far so good. I am not aggressive with them, but explain my position, and have so far been lucky, and not received the boot.

I was dead wrong about these parks being full of good stuff... a piece of 925 here and there, Wheaties, but very few silver coins. It seems that Charlotte's large metal detecting club has spent the last 40 years pounding the tar out of this town!

Best of luck to you gents!