Information package for the police

[nomad_penguin]

I know that this has been discussed before, but searching for 'police' gives me 41 pages to trawl through .

One of my caches has been drawn to the attention of the police by a vigilant* member of the public. One of the cachers that has been approached by this person described geocaching to them, but they have already reported activities of 'suspicious people' to the police and are recording registration plate numbers.

I have considered either removing/relocating the cache, contacting the police to let them know that people are searching for a cache (and that geocaching is a harmless activity), or leaving the cache as it is.

I recall a previous discussion about putting together a standard 'introduction to geocaching' pack that is meant for the police, national parks and other relevant organisations. At what stage is this at?

Cheers + thanks.



* Random musing. There is only one letter difference between vigilant and vigilante.

[setsujoku]

Just found which cache it is, and if the people across the road enough time on their hands to sit and watch people come and go in a very busy car park, then they mustn't have a very exciting life, as thousands of people would go through that place every week.
At the end of the day nothing dodgy is happening, so they can report as many people as they like, but I'm sure that the police will get tired of it pretty quickly, especially once they know that nothing dodgy is going on.

In the past there has been packs of information sent to the police, they were usually just some leaflets from GC.com and examples of cache containers and the stash notes that *should* be in each cache. I'd imagine that CheesyPigs would have given out a fair bit of info to the Tassie police as well.

[Cheesy pigs]

Yeah I've spread the word as well as I can through Taspol, and even made some converts. The best advice I cam give is make sure the container is properly marked, think about the placement and whether finders will attract suspicion, and maybe approach the local station and try and have a chat about it. Probably wouldn't hurt to put the owners contact number in the cache as well so police can call if they have concerns about the cache. Also avoid cache containers that may look like an improvised explosive device, some of these have been blown up in the states recently.

[Cheesy pigs]

Another thought. If approached by police whe looking for a cache be honest about what you are doing, show them your caching gear and explain what geocaching is. Also don't be afraid to walk away from a cache and return later, especially if you look to be acting sus near a recent bushfire while police are searching for an arsonist

[nomad_penguin]

Thanks for the input Mr Cheesy Pigs. I'll implement a couple of your suggestions and see what happens ...

[ian-and-penny]

One of my caches has been drawn to the attention of the police by a vigilant* member of the public.

Have you considered explaining to the vigilante that this is your cache?

[nomad_penguin]

I have, but I do not actively seek out situations that I think will be confrontational (and this person sounds very hostile). That could just be me wimping out, though.

[firesafe]

They must be using binoculars to read number plates from their house to where the cache is located Much too much time on their hands.

[Cheesy pigs]

some people live for neighbourhood watch

[mundoo]

Probably wouldn't hurt to put the owners contact number in the cache as well

On the outside back cover of all my log books I write (usually in red biro) that if there are any issues with my cache to call and my phone number.