Treasure Police......

[Captain Loosechange]

Yesterday my MD Buddy and I went to an Old High School built in 1929. It is now a "Community Center". We arrive around 8:30 am and mind You this is in the Boonies in Southwest Virgina. I grew up in this county and have known of this old school but trust me it is way back in the middle of nowhere. So we have been there maybe 30 minutes when this white car comes up the road, suddenly dives into the driveway of the place and pulls up beside of me. Driver is old f rt, never bothers to shut his engine off or take time to park the car. He rolls his passenger window down and asks me "Findin' anything?" with a stupid look on his face . I say "just some pocket change". I had headphones on but replied to him out of kindness. So he just looks at me, trying to think of something to say then he proceeds to park and begins to interrogate my buddy. Says to him "I thought you guys were doin' my weedeatin' for me." My buddy says something like" I need to be doin' that at my house but I'm out doin' this instead." So then he says"kids didn't have much money when this place was in use, probably won't find nothin." We both replied" Yeah probably not." He sits there maybe 10 minutes then he asks me"Anybody ever give you all problems about doing that" I said, "Not usually, most people appreciate us getting all the trash off the places and thats why I go to public places like this. There are no laws or ordinances against metal detecting here" He paused for maybe 1 minute the said" I don't think anybody would mind but this is not a public place." Wait, a "Community Center
not a public place I didn't even qualify that BS with a response. Finally after he saw we were not going to buy his bluff he left. We hunted a couple more hours before we decided to leave. I bet if my first response had been "Yeah were findin' all kinds of silver and buffalo nickels and wheat cents" he would've tried to make us leave, even without authority to do so. I'm sorry but a communtiy center is just that, it was not posted property and there are no laws or ordinances against it. We didn't have any spectacular finds and my buddy suggested we leave what little good stuff we found on the front steps with the 10 pounds of trash we dug up and hauled outta' there But cooler heads prevailed and we took all the trash and "treasure". Why people would rather that things rot in the ground than to be recovered is beyond me Anybody else ever been bluffed by the Treasure Police??

 

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[mastereagle22]

Not too long ago I had gotten permission to hunt a field where a house once stood by the owner. So I am out running my machine and a guy comes from across the street and asks me what I was doing. I politely tell him I am metal detecting and that I have permission to be there. "No you don't" he says. Then proceeds to tell me that he owns the lot and he didn't give me permission to be there and I need to leave.

I pull out the letter I had the owner sign and I showed it to the guy. He just hmmmmmed and hawwwwed for a few seconds then turned around and left.

Some people just don't get it.

 

[jeff of pa]

Yesterday my MD Buddy and I went to an Old High School built in 1929. It is now a "Community Center". We arrive around 8:30 am and mind You this is in the Boonies in Southwest Virgina. I grew up in this county and have known of this old school but trust me it is way back in the middle of nowhere. So we have been there maybe 30 minutes when this white car comes up the road, suddenly dives into the driveway of the place and pulls up beside of me. Driver is old f rt, never bothers to shut his engine off or take time to park the car. He rolls his passenger window down and asks me "Findin' anything?" with a stupid look on his face . I say "just some pocket change". I had headphones on but replied to him out of kindness. So he just looks at me, trying to think of something to say then he proceeds to park and begins to interrogate my buddy. Says to him "I thought you guys were doin' my weedeatin' for me." My buddy says something like" I need to be doin' that at my house but I'm out doin' this instead." So then he says"kids didn't have much money when this place was in use, probably won't find nothin." We both replied" Yeah probably not." He sits there maybe 10 minutes then he asks me"Anybody ever give you all problems about doing that" I said, "Not usually, most people appreciate us getting all the trash off the places and thats why I go to public places like this. There are no laws or ordinances against metal detecting here" He paused for maybe 1 minute the said" I don't think anybody would mind but this is not a public place." Wait, a "Community Center
not a public place I didn't even qualify that BS with a response. Finally after he saw we were not going to buy his bluff he left. We hunted a couple more hours before we decided to leave. I bet if my first response had been "Yeah were findin' all kinds of silver and buffalo nickels and wheat cents" he would've tried to make us leave, even without authority to do so. I'm sorry but a communtiy center is just that, it was not posted property and there are no laws or ordinances against it. We didn't have any spectacular finds and my buddy suggested we leave what little good stuff we found on the front steps with the 10 pounds of trash we dug up and hauled outta' there But cooler heads prevailed and we took all the trash and "treasure". Why people would rather that things rot in the ground than to be recovered is beyond me Anybody else ever been bluffed by the Treasure Police??

sounded more to me like he was a Little bit Lonely,
a little Bit Curious. & A little bit intrested in Whether or
not it may be a good hobby for Him.

I have people Tell me I gotta Share my "Gold" with them Even
on property that isn't theirs.

I always Smile with a Chuckle & Say "Sure, you got It ! "

It ain't like they are going to follow & Take Inventory,
when they are Joking in the first place.

 

[Captain Loosechange]

No, Jeff, Trust me He was trying to make us feel awkard in the hopes that we would leave. This wasn't my first rodeo, I have encoutered the "Treasure
Police" before. I have met folks who were doing just what you said, interested in the hobby and wandering if it was for them. They always ask about best finds, other places to hunt, how the detector works, how hard is it to learn, how much it cost's. I can tell the difference. He was a busy body who probably lives close by and wanted to be the big man and run us off. When we weren't intimidated he finally left. I have no problem in sharing the hobby, I probably have more tolerance than most for questions from the curious as I almost always take time to chat and explain. But I am so sick of people that have no business trying to tell me what I can or can not do. HH Steve

 

[jeff of pa]

No, Jeff, Trust me He was trying to make us feel awkard in the hopes that we would leave. This wasn't my first rodeo, I have encoutered the "Treasure
Police" before. I have met folks who were doing just what you said, interested in the hobby and wandering if it was for them. They always ask about best finds, other places to hunt, how the detector works, how hard is it to learn, how much it cost's. I can tell the difference. He was a busy body who probably lives close by and wanted to be the big man and run us off. When we weren't intimidated he finally left. I have no problem in sharing the hobby, I probably have more tolerance than most for questions from the curious as I almost always take time to chat and explain. But I am so sick of people that have no business trying to tell me what I can or can not do. HH Steve

It's always easier to tell by somones tone whether they
are joking or not so I take your Word for it.

But you may have missed out on turning him around & Getting a new site.

When he Brought up weeding his Property

Maybe you should have asked about "his" Property.
location, age, etc.
& If it may be worth your time. :P

 

[Tom_in_CA]

If anyone is worried about encounters like that, they've taken up the wrong hobby Busy-bodies are a dime a dozen, no matter how innocuous a place is. I've even had the nature save-the-whales type hippy people come up and claim that I can't or shouldn't be doing this on the beach, d/t "it bothers the sea lions" blah blah. Gotta have a tough skin for this hobby. I guess it's just the oddity of someone waving an electronic gadget around that attracts busy-bodies.

 

[kane23]

had a run in with a city councilman recently in northern Utah, he wanted to kick me off the park. he looked for holes and could'nt find any. I showed him i aereated the soil and pulled out the trash and did'nt dig holes. eventually he reluctantly let me stay. I say stand up for your rights! Don't let people bully you around. Kane 23

 

[pennyfarmer]

People are so concerned and afraid of what you might recover. They are certain there is nothing there but just to be sure they don't want you to take a chance and get something good.



Now if you are making a bad name for the hobby by not filling holes or throwing trash around then I hope they get you for vandalism. (not meaning anyone posting here)

 

[cybercop106]

Even cops don't have immunity from the 'Treasure Police'.
I was at the Leon County Fairgrounds in Tallahassee FL a while back (before I retired), after having stopped and asked the the employees working there if it was okay to metal detect. The city has ordinances that allow detecting in parks and on public grounds as long as you don't "dig", which by their definition would only mean using anything the size of a small shovel or bigger. Of course I always use a pinpointer and am very careful to cover anything back pretty much the way it looked originally. I figured this was in Leon County, but ordinances would probably be similar.
I'd been there about twenty minutes when this white truck comes tearing across 100 yards of grass and dirt area, skids to a stop about 20' away and the guy driving starts yelling:
"You can't metal detect here!" You have to leave now!"
I pointed to the uniformed employees cleaning up and repairing stuff by the buildings and told him I spoke with them and they said it wasn't a problem.
The guy continues in the same loud voice:
"Well, I'm the Maintenance Supervisor here and I'm telling you to leave"!
So I simply turned off my detector, slung it over my shoulder and said,
"Ya know, you don't have to be such an a$$H0!3 about it. You just did more damage driving across the grounds like a total pr1ck than we would ever do metal detecting."
His face turned even redder than it already was, but he stayed in the truck, so I walked away, carrying the bag of trash I had picked up while detecting. I stopped at a trash can and emptied my junk bag, then got in my truck and left.
I don't know if he was really the Maint Supervisor or not, but it wasn't worth the trouble. There are so many places to hunt around Tally it was no big loss.
What I still find hard to believe after years of police work is why some folks feel the need to be jerks and how come so many jerks end up in positions of authority.
I don't know how, but I certainly know it happens!!!

P.S. If anyone knows that guy, I apologize in advance..... not for calling him an a$$H0!3 or a pr1ck, but that you know him......

 

[G.I.B.]

*** how come so many jerks end up in positions of authority.

In any cesspool the largest chunks float to the top.


When I'm in a place I have a legal right to be, doing what I have a legal right to be doing (metal detecting) I tell the jerk, "Go call the police if you feel a need, I'll wait right here for them."

They usually go away.