› Forums › Geocaching in Wisconsin › General › Caches in Residential Areas

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  • 11/10/2008 at 5:06 pm #1727300
    Team Deejay

      Folks, we have recently had a few incidents with caches hidden in or near residential neighborhoods creating disturbances, resulting in contacts with local law enforcement. When people are seen unexpectedly in a residential neighborhood, neighbors often think the worst (burglary, drug activity, pornography exchange, terrorism) and call the cops. Caches that tend to cause this sort of problem include:

      • Caches hidden on street signs, sewer grates, guardrails, and other locations within residential neighborhoods.

      • Caches hidden at the extreme boundaries of parkland, immediately adjacent to someone’s home.

      • Caches hidden on private residental property with permission, but without proper notification of neighbors and a clear description of what property finders should be visiting.

      • Caches where the description directs people to park and enter large parks through neighborhood access points, rather than through the “regular” entry.

      If you feel that you have to place a cache at your home or on another location on a residential street, please take the time to visit with all the neighbors within sight of the cache. If you are placing a cache on public land, try to stay 100 feet or so away from private residential property (don’t worry about adjacent farms, commercial property, industrial property and the like), or at least talk to any neighbors whose property abuts the cache. If you are placing a cache in a park with an entrance fee (such as a Waukesha County Park), do not direct finders to park in adjoining residential areas to enter through “secret” entrances. (Adding legitimate parking coordinates is also beneficial.) Finally, as a cache owner, be sure to include contact information in your cache paperwork. If someone is stopped by the police while hunting your cache, you don’t want them to only have “Joe the Cat” as a contact.

      Please understand that our game is dependent on maintaining a good relationship with government employees at all levels. If we become perceived as scofflaws, we will lose the access to the areas where we love to play.

      11/10/2008 at 5:57 pm #1897660
      GetMeOutdoors

        Even when dealing with parks or private land where permission is obtained and documented in the cache description / reviewer notes, do you think it would still be a good idea to inform the local law about the existence of the cache? Has anyone done that before? I have not. I’m sure they would like to know the information but I’m also sure that they don’t want to be bothered by every little thing.

        Maybe it would be cool it Grounspeak / GC.com had a template letter or something that a cacher owner could use to efficiently and accurately inform the agency about the cache.

        Is anyone here IN law enforcement? What would be the best way to approach my local police department if I think I have a cache that may cause concern. (I don’t think I have any right now, but would be good to figure out sooner rather than later)

        Maybe the best way to avoid concern is to just not place the cache at all, but sometimes it becomes common in cities where there’s fewer and fewer open areas.

        One other thing, obviously the police are aware of this sport… I wonder how they feel about it at large? I hope it’s a good feeling. I hope we keep it that way. Thanks Team Deejay for bringing this to everyone’s attention.

        11/10/2008 at 6:23 pm #1897661
        Lostby7

          Thanks for posting this. On one of my last caching trips I added to my ignore list about 2 dozen of these caches. I know there are only so many parks but hiding caches in subdivisions and in open view public areas is just asking for trouble…me hunting one of these is not worth the possibility of putting in jeopardy a sport I love.

          11/10/2008 at 7:01 pm #1897662
          Team Deejay

            @GetMeOutdoors wrote:

            Even when dealing with parks or private land where permission is obtained and documented in the cache description / reviewer notes, do you think it would still be a good idea to inform the local law about the existence of the cache? Has anyone done that before? I have not. I’m sure they would like to know the information but I’m also sure that they don’t want to be bothered by every little thing.

            Maybe it would be cool it Grounspeak / GC.com had a template letter or something that a cacher owner could use to efficiently and accurately inform the agency about the cache.

            [snip]

            I’m not sure that notifying law enforcement would be very effective. Unless you are in a very small community, there are many officers to be informed, and, quite frankly, they have much more important things to deal with. Wasting their time up front is not a lot better than wasting their time later.

            Maybe something better would be a letter you could leave at the neighbor’s home, assuming they were not home when you tried to inform them. Just something to explain geocaching and warn them that “a bunch of guys in camouflage” might make a short stop in their neighborhood and telling them where the cache is located.

            My conversations with LEOs on geocaching have generally been positive. That said, the latest incident involved the police setting up surveillance to figure out what was happening after neighbors were alarmed. This is pretty clearly a waste of government resources which could have been avoided. Add to that the cache owners refusal to identify themselves when requested and you start to see a problem emerge. (I do feel sorry for the poor finder who was pounced on by the Brookfield police, but he is a big boy and will get over it!)

            Just to emphasize in case anyone gets the wrong idea, I am not saying you can’t hide a cache in a neighborhood or at your home. The issue is making sure your neighbors know what is happening to avoid problems. Most people will see it as good clean fun and will actually help you maintain your cache. If you run into someone who is not so cooperative, well, folks, there is always another guardrail or stop sign.

            11/10/2008 at 7:14 pm #1897663
            rogheff

              Good point. If I were ever to hide a cache at my home (not that I’m saying I would), I’d make sure it was a 1 star difficulty and list my address on the cache page and leave a really good hint as well.

              11/10/2008 at 8:33 pm #1897664
              -cheeto-

                Another helpful tip that I learned when placing my cache series “I’m in a rut” was to also get in contact with the homeowner’s association if there is one for the area.

                In my case I actually needed their permission to place some of these caches but in doing so, they also alerted ALL of the homeowners in the area for me 🙂 As well as alerting their maintenance staff (volunteer teenagers mostly) who do trailside maintenance where the caches are all hidden.

                These particular caches are on a VERY residential, blacktopped trail around a subdivision that passes very close to many houses but everything is “on the up and up” there and so far it seems to have worked well. Also, I stated this on the cache pages which probably makes the searchers feel a little more comfortable when searching on a trail that gets heavy use from the homeowner’s there.

                None of us like giving the “what we are doing speech” but I find that directly meeting muggles in the area while hunting is a much better approach than trying to be “stealthy”. Especially in these “residential” or small park areas. Being stealthy makes you look suspicious. Trust me, I am far too suspicious looking from the get go 🙂

                Ask s|s sometime about appearing suspicious…

                11/10/2008 at 9:49 pm #1897665
                nohandsgps

                  @-cheeto- wrote:

                  None of us like giving the “what we are doing speech” but I find that directly meeting muggles in the area while hunting is a much better approach than trying to be “stealthy”. Especially in these “residential” or small park areas. Being stealthy makes you look suspicious. Trust me, I am far too suspicious looking from the get go 🙂

                  Ask s|s sometime about appearing suspicious…

                  This is why I like wearing my nohandsgps holder in public places. People tend to concentrate on the extra appendage vs what I am actually doing. People feel more comfortable approaching me and less likely to feel the need to call the cops.

                  11/10/2008 at 10:19 pm #1897666
                  GetMeOutdoors

                    @Team Deejay wrote:

                    Maybe something better would be a letter you could leave at the neighbor’s home, assuming they were not home when you tried to inform them.

                    If you run into someone who is not so cooperative, well, folks, there is always another guardrail or stop sign.

                    Excellent points.

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