[Az-Geocaching] Who Manages What

[William Noll]

    I wonder at what time in our history Park Rangers stopped having degrees
in Biology and Ecology, and instead became Law Enforcement?

    After reading all this, I can offer one suggestion... Keep your mouth
shut. Cops can question you for anything, but they have to have 'reasonable
suspicion / probable cause' to do anything to you. Think Miranda... the cop
is NOT your friend, and he will take notes of your conversation, and those
conversations CAN BE used against you. You don't have to say anything to the
cop. You merely have to follow 'reasonable lawful orders' from him, like
providing ID and an insurance card if a vehicle is involved. He can't arrest
you unless he has probable cause, and most officers will not arrest without
a supervisor present (to sort out the issues) unless there is an immediate
threat to his safety.

    Also, any cop that 'threatens' arrest is an idiot. No smart one will
give away the 'element of surprise' in an escalating situation. I would
report him. His supervisors probably won't do anything (they DO protect each
other), but at least it can augment a personnel file if this guy is a
problem.

    You should not feel like a criminal using the PUBLIC lands, by hiding a
geocache. If government was so concerned about littering, they'd clean up
the freeways. If you are approached by law enforcement, unless you just
geocached a murder victim, you have nothing to hide / fear, but you don't
have to apologize for the sport to someone who probably barely graduated
from high school.  You can query the officer regarding why he is stopping /
talking to you. If anything HE says sounds fishy, then remember the shrewd
legal mind of our former president - "Deny, deny, deny". Remember that most
cops only have a cheesy associates degree in 'Criminal Justice', and that
very few people with a J.D. (that's a law degree) go on to become cops.
Treat him as such. Remember, it's all about 'power'. Empower yourself by
making him do the hard work of explaining his actions to you, and if
necessary, act stupid. He will.

Bill


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <bcasteel@cox.net>
To: <listserv@azgeocaching.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 9:46 PM
Subject: Re: RE: [Az-Geocaching] Who Manages What


> To clarify one point, he could arrest you for trespassing, but not for
Geocaching.  Geocaching itself, is not illegal, but knowingly violating
certain laws to find a cache is.  It is also somewhat illegal to do it
unknowingly, but the case must be made by the officer and prosecutor that
you ignored the invisible signs and phantom fencing to access the area in
order to find the cache before you could be convicted on it.  There's a big
reason for the word 'knowingly' being used in description of crimes.
>
> Brian
> Team A.I