Mr. and Ms Police Officer called. Got a 1942 W L H

[DPBOB]

Happy Easter !!!!!
Got up early and headed out to recon a street tear up. Arrived in the area and they are just getting started with it. No more then 10 minutes into the hunt I have someone tell not to do it. Blah Blah Blah...... Half hour later another person comes out and tell me not to be doing it, that " IT'S CREEPY". He said he was calling the POLICE. I said all they will do is take my name , check me out and tell me to have fun and good luck. WELL THAT'S WHAT HAPPEN.


So this is TRIP # 1 to the street tear up. I will update it every time I go there....


I did manage to squeak out a 1942 WLH and a few wheats.
Thanks for looking and HH......... Bob.

 

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[Back-of-the-boat]

A street Walker hehe nice silver.

 

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[coinshooter]

I was driving in a nearby city last week and saw a tearout with traffic behind a barrier. Parked my car, jumped the low barrier and started hunting. Found an 1889 IH and a 1898 Barber Quarter.
My buddy has had run ins with people who hassle him about sidewalk hunting. He asks them "Do you own this property?", They usually say no, to which he responds, "Then mind your own business!". They usually are upset, but turn heals towards their houses with their tails between their legs.

 

[Missouri_John]

I've had people threaten me too on tearouts, but i've never gotten in any legal trouble over it

 

[DainBrammage]

I was driving in a nearby city last week and saw a tearout with traffic behind a barrier. Parked my car, jumped the low barrier and started hunting. Found an 1889 IH and a 1898 Barber Quarter.
My buddy has had run ins with people who hassle him about sidewalk hunting. He asks them "Do you own this property?", They usually say no, to which he responds, "Then mind your own business!". They usually are upset, but turn heals towards their houses with their tails between their legs.

This humors me greatly as my conversations usually go like this:

Snooty toned ne'er-do-well - "Hey what are you doing here!?"

Me, coolly and calmly - "Minding my own freaking business, what are you doing here?"

Also makes me laugh because it makes me think of the "rhubarb lady" " This is alley property..."

 

[Sobo]

Nice walker, bet there's a lot more there waiting for you. Just hope the cops don't get called every time you check it . HH

 

[jewelerguy]

that sure is a nice half you found, even for a creep

 

[Agent Green]

Keep on sweeping that street, awesome...

 

[Tom_in_CA]

DP-bob, I'll be the devil's advocate here Ok: I see in the pix some of that orange snow-fencing, and some A-frame barricades. Oh the horror ! *CERTAINLY* there must be something in municipal code about entering a closed-zone construction site (even if on public land, yet still a construction site). I mean, let's face it: Why ELSE is there the orange, the barricades, etc....? Therefore I accuse you of breaking the TH'rs "code of ethics". At the very hint of some resident complaining, you should have gone to city hall to "get it clarified". And then presto: just like deer-hunter plight, if you get enough legal beavers down there to look deep into this "pressing question", I bet someone might come up with something that morphs to "no".

Ok, no go do the right thing and ask. Make us all proud ! haha

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Now, my worst experience with street construction...

I'm in Rochester, MI a few summers ago and they are tearing up the streets. Very wealthy neighborhood.

Anyway, they start ripping up the sidewalks. It was an all summer project. Truth be told, they hadn't even ripped up the sidewalks yet...just the curbs at the corners and the part of sidewalks closest to the road. Very minimal area to detect.

I went there with 2 detecting buddies...one was a seasoned veteran, the other was more of a newbie.

Anyway, we went on a very nasty, chilly, rainy, Sunday, figuring not a lot of people would be out. We were right. Barely anyone out on the streets. I hadn't found one coin in the first 30 minutes...then BAM...1860 Indianhead Penny. Next Target...BAM...1843 Large Cent. My newbie partner also dug consecutive 1890's Indianheads...which were his first 2 coins from the 1800's. The veteran had dug 6 coins, all pre-1900. And thats when the Cops rolled up.

Cop asked if I found anything, I said not much, just started. He said he was getting calls from city hall and that we were breaking the law and needed to leave. I asked him what laws we were breaking...he said..."Ya know...I'm not really sure, but I was told to you had to leave...I guess you're trespassing."

I was like..."I'm trespassing on Public Property?" We ended up leaving after a 10 minute chat which included the officer agreeing that he didn't see us doing anything wrong, but that city hall won't stop bothering his boss...and that we gotta leave.

The veteran beeper with me has a daughter who is a county sheriff in the same county. She made a call the next day...to the Chief of the local Dept. Supposedly, he stated he couldn't find any laws that we were breaking and that he'd get it cleared up in a few days and we'd be able to return.

However, a few days later, our call from the Chief didn't work out as planned. Apparently, the Mayor and city council decided there were all sorts of violations we were committing, they just couldn't cite specifics. Until of course...they started saying that Rochester was built on an old Native American Village or graveyard. And that there may be artifacts there...construction crews were being told to be "on the lookout" and that a team of archaeologists accompanied by a team of professionals with metal detectors would be locating items in the construction zone and giving them to the local historical society. This was TOTAL BS. We even offered to give up the all finds non coin related to the historical society...since all we really cared about were the coins. They could keep all other items...they denied us.

Within a few days, there was an article in a Rochester online paper called "The Patch."

The author, keep in mind not knowing us or seeing our 40 minute treasure hunt...called us "LOOTERS." I believe the article also referred to us as Scavengers and Thieves. There were quite a few comments on there and nearly everyone sided with us...as hard as that may be to believe. Very few people were on the side of the city government. Btw...after the construction project was over...I remember people asking what items of historical value were found City hall was like...oh, nothing much.



To this day...its the only street construction project I have EVER been asked to leave. We all made a vow...not to give $1.00 more to businesses in that city. And I hate that...because I graduated from college in Rochester. I have a lot of good memories there, but this 1 bad memory left a very sour taste in my mouth.

I even switched one of my Doctors because his office was there.


Just letting you know...it could be worse...the media could portray your completely legal hobby as THIEVERY.


Sorry its so long guys and gals,

DH24

DH-24, thanx for sharing this experience. It sounds like your issue would have been ignored by those a) cops, and b) desk-bound city bureaucrats [ie.: if that same city person had been driving by, they'd have probably paid you no mind]. And so it seems that the ONLY reason your situation turned out like that, is that some local resident wants to complain. Thus the cops must answer the call, and justify their just-having-been-called-out.

And I agree with you, that the train-of-events is "total BS" (to use your own words). Just a fluke of train-of-events, when in fact, odds are, no one would care, till-you-asked (or ran into miss-lookie-lou-griper).

So after reading of your good finds from there, I hate to say this, but here's exactly what I would have done: SIMPLY GONE BACK AT 2AM WHEN MISS LOOKIE-LOU GRIPER WAS ASLEEP ! I know that might not sit well with the skittish folks on here who say we need to grovel at everyone's feet, and wait for red-carpets to be rolled out for us. But as you say, it's B.S. So as far as I'm concerned, that's clearly one description-spot where "out of site is out of mind". If it's d/t to one griper starting that ball rolling, then the solution is simple: avoid that one griper.

 

[Davers]

Nice Walking Liberty Half.
Soo Was the Rhubarb Lady Right , or Wrong? any opinions?

 

[ModernMiner]

Great looking WLH Bob. Next time they say it's creepy hand them a mirror.
Congrats to you,
Doug

 

[WHADIFIND]

This humors me greatly as my conversations usually go like this:

Snooty toned ne'er-do-well - "Hey what are you doing here!?"

Me, coolly and calmly - "Minding my own freaking business, what are you doing here?"

Also makes me laugh because it makes me think of the "rhubarb lady" " This is alley property..."

I wonder. What do you suppose would be the reaction if you walked up to a golfer practicing in a park and just started
a conversation? While he was swinging. Then, keep talking and taking him away from his recreating? Or maybe a fisherman, or hunter or , or, or ....

Or, even, a panicked person who runs up to you on a beach and tries to bodily drag you to where their ring was last seen! Then ORDERED to find it!!!

But, us? If we DON"T respond we are all "boom babies" and need to be stamped out like the vermin we are made out to be.

 

[park pirate]

That's funny, I was searching my fav, park one time and a women call the police on me she told them I had a gun, the police sat in the park watching me for an hour then I packed up my michine and left, as soon as I took the corner the police pulled me over they searched my truck, then told me what happen, then said sorry have nice day...congrats on a sweet walker...

 

[Deerhunter24]

DH-24, thanx for sharing this experience. It sounds like your issue would have been ignored by those a) cops, and b) desk-bound city bureaucrats [ie.: if that same city person had been driving by, they'd have probably paid you no mind]. And so it seems that the ONLY reason your situation turned out like that, is that some local resident wants to complain. Thus the cops must answer the call, and justify their just-having-been-called-out.

What you said is what I would believe 99% of the time...that is was just a local resident complaining.

In this particular instance, it was the actual CITY MANAGER who was driving home from Church when he spotted us and raised HE77 with the police. The police officer told us that, which shocked me because a big part of the job of LEO's...I would think anyway, is to keep their referral source private/secret.

He is also most likely the one responsible for the City paper writing up an article about us, since he was quoted in the article.

It was pretty interesting how the paper labeled us scavengers/thieves...even more interesting is the comments from a bunch of other people supporting us.

Here is a link if anyone is interested. I know it was 2 years ago, but we got decent support. Some of the comments are worth reading I think.



City to Metal-Detecting Sleuths: Be Patient ? Or Be Arrested - Top News - Rochester-Rochester Hills, MI Patch





DH24

 

[silvermagnet]

Probably they are detectorists and think that "encroacing on their spot is "creepy" I am not a redneck but this calls for use of the word "yuppy"

 

[fongu]

I think some of these people just don't understand our hobby and whether the police like it or not, they have to respond to citizen complaints. Some people are so ignorant and reactive, I just go somewhere else. Hate to leave a good site like that, but it beats a hassle. Excellent recovery on the half. Congratulations.

 

[tanz 82]

I said to someone that didn't know i could MD a certain area and was yelling at me that the police were on their way to " do what ever she needs to do to make herself feel better " Then when she wouldn't stop harassing me i called her a psychopath , which made her crazier . then i just laughed

 

[Chuxter]

Nice silver. Boy, some whiners have too much time on their hands. It would be nice if our hobby got the respect it deserves. We shouldn't have to sneak out at 2:00 am to avoid these ignorant folks who want to complain. Every complaint I read about or am involved with personally, slowly chips away at my politeness. Kinda like a snake backed into a corner and prodded. I WILL NOT BOW DOWN TO STUPIDITY. -HH Chuck

 

[shezzer]

Haha! Most times when geocaching I get curiosity, then wonder! Nothing creepy about any of it. I think there's a sense of adventure in us all, I don't understand those that get jealous or freaked out.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

... We shouldn't have to sneak out at 2:00 am to avoid these ignorant folks who want to complain....

You're right. We shouldn't "need" to. But that doesn't change reality that detecting (admittedly) has connotations. And that not everyone might like it. So as much as I agree we shouldn't "need" to go at low traffic times, yet I'm afraid you're simply not going to get every last person to roll out red carpets for you. Thus, rather than thinking I need to get every last person to love and kiss me, I might just choose to do some parks at 2am. Should I "have" to? No. But is it reality in some locations? Yes.