Could be an issue… Placers be aware….

[seldom|seen]

Log Date: 5/17/2010
While looking at GZ, a neighbor of the park walked over and told us “it used to be right here, but the police took it. They are taking them from all the parks in town (Little Chute) cause the teenagers were using them for drugs.” Cache owner might want to check that out. We stopped looking & left disappointed.

[Lostby7]

If there is truth to this, then it sounds like misinformation and undue panic on the part of a concerned citizen somewhere in the city who may have in turn poked the local PD in the rear-end. I highly doubt kids are using geocaches for drugs…if this holds true then clearly the cops need to be educated that it’s adults and families seeking the caches not a bunch of junkys.

Seriously why would someone put their stash in a publicly listed container…

[Team Deejay]

While I suspect the “concerned citizen” is overstating the situation, it is a perception we need to overcome. I suspect this person called the cops when he saw “weirdos in camouflage” wandering around his neighborhood park poking around in bushes and trees. Put yourself in the position where you know nothing about geocaching. Now, you begin to see people stop by a guardrail near your home, poke around in it, remove something, manipulate it, and then replace it. What would you think was going on? Most people will guess drugs and call the cops, without risking investigating it themselves. This is why we discourage people from hiding caches at their homes. Unless your neighbors are aware of the cache or located miles away, you are destined for a visit from the police.

So, what can we do? As a first step, try to be open about what you are doing when hiding caches and seeking caches. There is no need to try to emulate a spy, sneaking around in the shadows. Share your fun with the neighbors (and other park users) and get them involved in the hunt. Exchange swag for little ones and put them on guard duty. Are there some bad apples who will take the cache anyway? Sure, but even that is better than getting it blown up by the bomb squad.

When you hide caches, it is best to avoid residential areas. The idea of this game is to get people into the forests, prairies, mountains, and marshes. We have lots of beautiful places to showcase with our caches that are NOT in someone’s backyard. Please try to take advantage of these. Your finders will love you for it.

/rant mode off

[RSplash40]

@Team Deejay wrote:

When you hide caches, it is best to avoid residential areas. The idea of this game is to get people into the forests, prairies, mountains, and marshes. We have lots of beautiful places to showcase with our caches that are NOT in someone’s backyard. Please try to take advantage of these. Your finders will love you for it.

/rant mode off

I am a numbers guy, no denying it, P&G’s all the way but this statement is so very true. There is no need to hide a nano on every stop sign, or pill bottle in every pine tree of a park, a fake rock in a rock pile anywhere, a nano in a tree or a magnet under a play area in a park.

If you feel compelled to put in “HIGH MUGGLE ACTIVITY” or “UBER STEALTH REQUIRED” in the text of your hide maybe it shouldn’t be there.

[sandlanders]

In the Community Education Committee, we’ve been working on an informative handout to share with law enforcement personnel to heighten their awareness and understanding of geocaching. If you have any ideas, please let us know.

However, nothing works as well as thinking out the consequences of your cache placements before hiding caches at all. In the rush to add to the game, sometimes we lose sight of the fact that there are people in the community who are not aware of geocaching. Our activities can look odd and even suspicious to others.

[-cheeto-]

For what it’s worth the cache in question has been there a long time and is a great placement.

[BakRdz]

@seldom|seen wrote:

Log Date: 5/17/2010
While looking at GZ, a neighbor of the park walked over and told us “it used to be right here, but the police took it.

Not that I don’t believe this could happen anywhere, but I think it’s going to be a community by community issue. Most of the peace officers I’ve encountered or know, once educated, understand the impractical use of a geocache for a drug stash. I think it is all of our responsibilities ito inform and educate in our communities.

[PCFrog]

@Lostby7 wrote:

Seriously why would someone put their stash in a publicly listed container…

Uhmm would you stash you wallet in a cache for a day or two? 😕

Sounds like people lost their ability to reason.

[seldom|seen]

@Team Deejay wrote:

When you hide caches, it is best to avoid residential areas. The idea of this game is to get people into the forests, prairies, mountains, and marshes. We have lots of beautiful places to showcase with our caches that are NOT in someone’s backyard. Please try to take advantage of these. Your finders will love you for it.

/rant mode off

Just to clarify, this is a single well camo’d cache in the middle of a 2-3 arce city park. It is a micro and wouldn’t be suitable for an 8-ball, much less any other common drug. Unless crank and meth are taking over the valley, there isn’t any reason to mistake it for anything but what it is. I suppose I could see misinterpreting it as a drop for a prescription drug drop, but what idiot would put something like that in the middle of a city park? I am surprised that a PO would inspect the cache, see the log sheet, and determine that it is anything but a geocache, and then elect to remove it.

The problem here is not the sport, but the paranoia that pervades our society. We’ve all experienced it, the questioning eyes upon us as we try to find a cache. No matter how obvious we might make our actions, somebody looking from afar will automatically assume the worst because that’s what has come to be expected of us in our Neighborhood Watch’d neighborhoods.

Whatever can be done to inform local Law Enforcement is a good thing, but it won’t stop the “suspicious activity” calls to the Police. However, it might mean that I won’t have to sit in the back of a squad with those dang shackles on as often… as that’s a good thing 😉

[BakRdz]

@seldom|seen wrote:

However, it might mean that I won’t have to sit in the back of a squad with those dang shackles on as often… as that’s a good thing 😉

Better in the back of the squad car than face first on the ground being pummeled by billy clubs while the officers yell “Give us the coordinates for the final!” 😆

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