Skippy SH13
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Yesterday, I took the afternoon (I had the day off), and went detecting at a middle school/elementary school combo about 8 miles straight down the road.
When I got there, I started with the tot-lots and elementary side... It was ROUGH... I spent the first hour finding only about $0.70 and one kids ring. I couldn't prove it, of course, but only finding a single nickel in 2 huge bark lots is pretty rare. I'm sure it had been recently detected. The close part of the field felt the same.
I finally gave up and went to the middle school, not finding anything between "here and there" either. The middle school is the first photo below. I started at the track field, where I had found a gold ring, 3 years ago...
While digging up my first target, which was a nice solid 62, but deeper than it should have been (indicating it was NOT a ring, but a chunk of metal), a guy walking the track stood over me. I looked up, smiled, and said, "Hi! How are you!" He asked me what I was doing, I told him, "I think I might have gold ring, but now I'm not so sure..." Usually, that would peak someone's interest, like crazy.
Not this yahoo. He immediate started into me, telling me what I was doing was illegal, and that it could be a pin for the field. As in, like raised voice, aggressive.
So, I raised my voice back. "Look here. To start with, I'm not doing ANYTHING illegal, I'm not looking for field pins, and I can tell the difference by the way they sound... and I'm not hurting the field, either! LOOK!" I then closed up the flaps of the field, and presto! No marks.
He kind of looked shocked for a second, then immediately went back to telling me what I was doing was "wrong and illegal, and I shouldn't be there."
I told him, "Man, you've got to be kidding me. I've been doing this for FIVE years, and I know the laws. I have a permit for the city's parks"
And at that point he interrupted me saying, "Well, this isn't a park."
Me: "Yeah, there's no permits required for schools, and there's no ordinances prohibiting it. I'm legal."
He started yelling again that he KNOWS it's illegal and that I shouldn't be there. At this point I stood up and yelled back, "GET OUT OF MY FACE, I know the law, and I don't need BUSYBODYs telling me what they think is the law. If you have an issue with this, call the cops."
Him, "FINE I WILL"
Me: "you're just wasting theirs and your time."
And that was that... I went back to detecting, and he decided to walk somewhere else. There were two families walking the track at that point, who probably got the show of their life. LOL As the first dad and his daughter came around, I looked up and said, 'Hi there! Having a good day?"
He chatted briefly, saying yes, and I told him I thought I had something for his daughter, and pulled out the kid ring I'd found earlier. Her eyes just LIT up. The whole conversation was very pleasant, and everything with the other walkers went back to normal... just nice people having a nice day.
Well, it was clear after another 15 minutes that the field was pretty empty, so I went to the large open field by the school (which historically is where the kids go to lunch and lose all kinds of stuff). I wasn't disappointed with my finds, there! (more on that in a bit).
About 10 minutes into it, sure enough, a Police vehicle pulls up (marked K-9), and out hops this lady officer. I wave to her, and walk over, and start the conversation with, "Oh my gosh, I'm SO sorry for having to waste your time..."
She immediately relaxed, and asked me if I was the person the guy called about.
"Yep! Just a busybody with nothing better to do that harass me. Sorry about that. I could have probably stopped it, but he got aggressive and I told him to get out of my face."
She busted up laughing, and told me in all the years on the force, she'd never gotten a call about a metal detectorist. I told her, that's because it's not against the law.
She laughed, and said, "My Sergeant and I wondered what to do about it, he told me to just ask if you had permission to be at the school."
I told her, "No, but I don't need it, just like someone throwing a frisbee doesn't need it, or someone putting in volley ball stakes doesn't need it."
Officer: "that makes sense."
Me: "there is a permit, though, for the city, but it's only required for the parks."
Officer: "oh, really? I was unaware..."
Me: "Yeah, it's free, doesn't expire, and anyone can get one from the parks department, here it is." I show her the permit taped to my detector rod. "The permit pretty much just says you know the rules of not digging more than 8", and that you use the proper equipment."
Officer: "Good to know!"
Me: "Yep, permit for the parks, anywhere else, there's no ordinance prohibiting it."
Officer: "Thank you. My team is going to want to know about this, we were all curious. It's good to educate them about these things, so if we get called in the future, we know what to say to the caller."
(Look... I know this sounds like a "oh, sure THAT happened." But I kid you not.. that was the way it went down!)
I then showed her what to watch for (no shovels, as they destroy the turf), and what my tool was for, and how I dig trace-free recoveries (I demonstrated for her, which she appreciated.)
After that, we talked about her dog, how my brother-in-law is a handler for the State Police (and that that point, we started swapping stories).
She was everything a police officer should be. Willing to listen, friendly, understanding of the actual law (and how the absence thereof applies), and completely NOT trying to enforce something that doesn't exist. BTW, she ended up telling me the report would be filed as the man harassing ME. LOL
She left when she got another call, wished me luck.
I loved it, it's like every other experience I've had with police around here. 100% professional, courteous and never harassing. In fact, I'll probably call in an appreciation for her.
Then I went back to detecting, and really ran into a jewelry box of a field!
In the next hour, I found 7 more rings (2 silver), and one silver charm with gemstones. Definitely worth sticking around for!
I'm looking forward to heading back, and I sure hope that guy is there and sees me detecting again. LOL
Cheers!
Skippy
EDIT: I decided to follow-up and sent a kudos to the Chief of Police for her. Sometimes, great law-enforcement should be recognized with more than just happy thoughts.
When I got there, I started with the tot-lots and elementary side... It was ROUGH... I spent the first hour finding only about $0.70 and one kids ring. I couldn't prove it, of course, but only finding a single nickel in 2 huge bark lots is pretty rare. I'm sure it had been recently detected. The close part of the field felt the same.
I finally gave up and went to the middle school, not finding anything between "here and there" either. The middle school is the first photo below. I started at the track field, where I had found a gold ring, 3 years ago...
While digging up my first target, which was a nice solid 62, but deeper than it should have been (indicating it was NOT a ring, but a chunk of metal), a guy walking the track stood over me. I looked up, smiled, and said, "Hi! How are you!" He asked me what I was doing, I told him, "I think I might have gold ring, but now I'm not so sure..." Usually, that would peak someone's interest, like crazy.
Not this yahoo. He immediate started into me, telling me what I was doing was illegal, and that it could be a pin for the field. As in, like raised voice, aggressive.
So, I raised my voice back. "Look here. To start with, I'm not doing ANYTHING illegal, I'm not looking for field pins, and I can tell the difference by the way they sound... and I'm not hurting the field, either! LOOK!" I then closed up the flaps of the field, and presto! No marks.
He kind of looked shocked for a second, then immediately went back to telling me what I was doing was "wrong and illegal, and I shouldn't be there."
I told him, "Man, you've got to be kidding me. I've been doing this for FIVE years, and I know the laws. I have a permit for the city's parks"
And at that point he interrupted me saying, "Well, this isn't a park."
Me: "Yeah, there's no permits required for schools, and there's no ordinances prohibiting it. I'm legal."
He started yelling again that he KNOWS it's illegal and that I shouldn't be there. At this point I stood up and yelled back, "GET OUT OF MY FACE, I know the law, and I don't need BUSYBODYs telling me what they think is the law. If you have an issue with this, call the cops."
Him, "FINE I WILL"
Me: "you're just wasting theirs and your time."
And that was that... I went back to detecting, and he decided to walk somewhere else. There were two families walking the track at that point, who probably got the show of their life. LOL As the first dad and his daughter came around, I looked up and said, 'Hi there! Having a good day?"
He chatted briefly, saying yes, and I told him I thought I had something for his daughter, and pulled out the kid ring I'd found earlier. Her eyes just LIT up. The whole conversation was very pleasant, and everything with the other walkers went back to normal... just nice people having a nice day.
Well, it was clear after another 15 minutes that the field was pretty empty, so I went to the large open field by the school (which historically is where the kids go to lunch and lose all kinds of stuff). I wasn't disappointed with my finds, there! (more on that in a bit).
About 10 minutes into it, sure enough, a Police vehicle pulls up (marked K-9), and out hops this lady officer. I wave to her, and walk over, and start the conversation with, "Oh my gosh, I'm SO sorry for having to waste your time..."
She immediately relaxed, and asked me if I was the person the guy called about.
"Yep! Just a busybody with nothing better to do that harass me. Sorry about that. I could have probably stopped it, but he got aggressive and I told him to get out of my face."
She busted up laughing, and told me in all the years on the force, she'd never gotten a call about a metal detectorist. I told her, that's because it's not against the law.
She laughed, and said, "My Sergeant and I wondered what to do about it, he told me to just ask if you had permission to be at the school."
I told her, "No, but I don't need it, just like someone throwing a frisbee doesn't need it, or someone putting in volley ball stakes doesn't need it."
Officer: "that makes sense."
Me: "there is a permit, though, for the city, but it's only required for the parks."
Officer: "oh, really? I was unaware..."
Me: "Yeah, it's free, doesn't expire, and anyone can get one from the parks department, here it is." I show her the permit taped to my detector rod. "The permit pretty much just says you know the rules of not digging more than 8", and that you use the proper equipment."
Officer: "Good to know!"
Me: "Yep, permit for the parks, anywhere else, there's no ordinance prohibiting it."
Officer: "Thank you. My team is going to want to know about this, we were all curious. It's good to educate them about these things, so if we get called in the future, we know what to say to the caller."
(Look... I know this sounds like a "oh, sure THAT happened." But I kid you not.. that was the way it went down!)
I then showed her what to watch for (no shovels, as they destroy the turf), and what my tool was for, and how I dig trace-free recoveries (I demonstrated for her, which she appreciated.)
After that, we talked about her dog, how my brother-in-law is a handler for the State Police (and that that point, we started swapping stories).
She was everything a police officer should be. Willing to listen, friendly, understanding of the actual law (and how the absence thereof applies), and completely NOT trying to enforce something that doesn't exist. BTW, she ended up telling me the report would be filed as the man harassing ME. LOL
She left when she got another call, wished me luck.
I loved it, it's like every other experience I've had with police around here. 100% professional, courteous and never harassing. In fact, I'll probably call in an appreciation for her.
Then I went back to detecting, and really ran into a jewelry box of a field!
In the next hour, I found 7 more rings (2 silver), and one silver charm with gemstones. Definitely worth sticking around for!
I'm looking forward to heading back, and I sure hope that guy is there and sees me detecting again. LOL
Cheers!
Skippy
EDIT: I decided to follow-up and sent a kudos to the Chief of Police for her. Sometimes, great law-enforcement should be recognized with more than just happy thoughts.
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