Permission?

[toe2short]

Hi All,

I went to a school near my house and I asked the principle if I could hunt the back of the school, there are a lot of woods there. She told me that I have to ask the Board of Edu. I called them talked to the man in charge. He said that he couldn't give me permission because if I got hurt he would be liable. He also said if I were to go back there alone there would be no way he would know. I take that for a go. But, if police do come what if any kind of fine are we talking about. I live in NJ.

Jimmy

 

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[dholland02]

I wouldn't have asked, I woulda just hunted after school hours.

 

[Gold Maven]

No body wants to be liable when it comes to government owned property. Hunt it early Sunday morning, or when no one is around, leave no trace and you should be good.

Pick up all trash you find, and any you see, and if a cop or groundskeeper approaches you, be polite, show them all the trash you're picking up and that helps to soften even the hard nosers.

 

[toe2short]

Thank you all, I am a retired landscaper, picking up trash is in my blood. I'm not to sure how the police in this area are towards people metal detecting on school grounds.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

tpe2short, you got 2 good replies so far from gold maven and dholland2. Why did you think you even needed to ask, to begin with? Or to wonder "what will the police think?" What I mean is, why would the police even care, or dislike it? For example: if you were in those woods on that school grounds flying a frisbee, or using the chinup bars, would you have wondered "what kind of fine will I face?". In other words: It's as if you lump metal detecting in some sort of evil category, where it's intrinsically wrong or evil, that it needs you to worry about it, or need permission, etc... Since when is that a given premise?

I mean, sure: if all the public is disallowed from being there (fenced in, with no trespassing signs, etc...), then sure, wonder if you can be there. But if there is nothing from stopping Joe-Q-public from walking around there, jogging the track, bird-watching, etc.... then why do you think that your activity is somehow different, or needs their sanction, etc....

Sure: our hobby has more connotations that bird-watching. Granted. Go at low traffic times and avoid lookie-lous.

The answer you received is not unusual. They're "obliged" to say such things, even if you'd asked if you could skip stones on the pond there, etc... But did you think anyone really cared, or would have given a moment's thought, if you'd just gone? Probably not.

 

[George (MN)]

He wouldn't know if you were there. Might that mean nobody has been told to look for detectorists? If there's not a sign & it's not locked, there is no law that says you can't be on public property. But there are laws against property damage. Just be sure you don't do anything that would cause a repair to be needed, & I think you'll be fine. In a heavily wooded area, I don't think there would even be grass? If the police show up & tell you that you have to leave, then leave. But I haven't heard of anyone being fined for being on what should be considered public property. Private schools, you should ask permission. State universities have their own police & you could be asked to leave.

He said if you got hurt he would be liable. But that could be said of anyone on the property, so there isn't "official" approval for *anyone* to be there as it probably lowers their lawsuit insurance. "Unofficially", they know the chance of injury is low and a lawsuit very unlikely. Best wishes, George (MN)