Minimizing bomb scares & Working with law enforcement

[gotta run]

After the recent geocaching-related bomb scare in Ashwaubenon, which was the second such event in two years, the Community Education Committee elected to reach out to Brown County law enforcement to see how to best avoid these situations in the future.

Here is the result of our efforts. Rather than put this in the NE Wisconsin forums, it makes sense to put it in the General forums because it contains information relevant beyond Brown County.

Here are the details:

Contacts made with:

1. The Ashwaubenon PD, which was involved in the most recent bomb scare, where we communicated with Police Chief Eric Dunning.

2. The Brown County Sheriff’s Department, which provides contract services for many of the villages that surround Green Bay metro, including Allouez, which was involved in the bomb scare in 2009. There, we worked with Sheriff Dennis Kocken, and with Lt. Christopher Knurr, Bomb Commander.

3. Ian Nishimoto, Associate Dean of Public Safety at NWTC, who oversees the law enforcement/public safety programs taught at the college, in an attempt to introduce geocaching into the curriculum.

Results:

The most positive takeaway from all these communications is that law enforcement in Brown County is aware of geocaching in general. The question is how deep this awareness extends to individual officers throughout the various departments.

What we can be reasonably certain of is that when the bomb squad is called out, a geocache is likely to get blown up out of caution. When that happens, it becomes a media event, geocaching takes a rap and, since the container is likely going to be obliteraed, there’s no way that the CO can prove they did things right. We can debate whether this action is justified or not in a particular instance, but it is a fact we have to deal with.

Therefore, we should be proactive, which includes:

1. Working to avoid situations where the public would call law enforcement in the first place.

2. Continuing to educate law enforcement about geocaches and creating/placing caches so that, if law enforcement is called, the responding officer can dismiss the situation in the field without calling the bomb squad.

As it relates to the education of law enforcement, as mentioned, there is an awareness of geocaching in general. Hopefully this awareness is even greater as a result of these communications.

As it relates to avoiding public calls and/or making sure responding officers can identify geocaches, the various departments felt there were additional things that could be done, particularly in urban hides. This includes:

1. In addition to standard labeling, consider placing contact information (phone number) on the outside of caches.

2. Take extra care in the placement of caches in public parks that happen to be located near schools (or other “targetâ€￾ buildings). For instance, in the case of the recent cache, it was located in a city park, but within about 150’ of a driveway that was used by the school. Law enforcement would like to see greater separation.

3. Be sure your cache container does not include any design elements that make it look suspicious. Think like a non-cacher. For instance, law enforcement mentioned that nano-magnets on film strip canisters can look like a miniature pipe bomb with a button switch. We can debate that point but the debate is irrelevant because a clear identification in the field by the responding officer is what we are aiming for. Therefore, consider clear containers rather than heavy camo. Avoid black electrical tape as “camo.” The more your cache looks like one of the examples pictured in the WGA law enforcement brochure, the more likely responding officers are to correctly identify it.

Again, we can debate whether the caches that were detonated in Brown County over the past two years were overreactions, but that debate is pointless; what matters most is avoiding future situations. So, these are the recommendations that have come forth.

In the event that a situation does occur in the future, at least the geo-community can point to the fact that the rules and recommendations were followed (although that is admittedly difficult to prove when you are dealing with microscopic cache fragments!).

Additionally, we contacted NWTC in an attempt to get geocaching into the college’s law enforcement program. Associate Dean Nishimoto was very receptive to the materials the WGA provided, and we offered to provide him additional information about geocaching as well as samples of various types of geocaches to use in class. Not sure what will come of this, but it’s a start.

There are a few loose ends to tie up in these communications and we hope the dialog is ongoing, but that’s a pretty complete report at this time.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[The Pirate Monkies]

A BIG Thank You to the Community Education Committee for being proactive this matter and trying to enlighten area law enforcement… THANK YOU ALL!!! But I gather that once the bomb squad is called the attitude becomes “blow it up, no matter what”… Am I correct???

[gotta run]

@The Pirate Monkies wrote:

But I gather that once the bomb squad is called the attitude becomes “blow it up, no matter what”… Am I correct???

While I don’t think anyone would go on record with that, for practical purposes that’s the way it works, and why it’s essential that situations are either avoided, or handled by the responding officers.

On the Left Side of the Road...

[The Pirate Monkies]

It seems to me that a few mobile devices with geocaching apps. would be much more reasonable than a full blown bomb squad call out and a better use of tax payer funds…

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