Is there a way for bomb squads to check to see if it is possibly a cache? I know they could get an account but they could run into a multi or mystery. If there is not a place for them there should be. Also is there any campaign to inform bomb squads about the sport? I am afraid that if this problem is allowed to mount up it may make our sport hard to do because of some crazy new laws or regulations. Worst case Groundspeak could come up with the info they think the squads would need to know and I am sure cachers would do the foot work to get it to them!

What do you think?

Even if you ask permission everyone in the affected area may not know! For instance, you get permission from the owner but he does not tell the managers. If the owner was gone, "CALL THE BOMB SQUAD!"

This subject has been discussed countless of times. The horse is quite dead by now. The simple answer is that they are not going to take a chance that they might misinterpret a bomb as a cache. They are not going to lookup anything on the internet, they are not going to call Groundspeak, they are going to blow it up first and ask questions later. They might even be nice enough to send a bill.

Jim

I have never looked at the forums for this subject but I was sure it had been said before but then again alot of things a conversed over many times before the right people see the light bulb!

And what would stop someone from replacing a legit cache with a bomb that looks like a legit cache, or planting a bomb within a legit cache?

"Checking with Groundspeak" would fail completely.

Like the police have time to call up Groundspeak and ask" Is this a bomb or a cache" The best thing to do is let the local LE know that there is a cache there and inform them on what Geocaching is.

This post has been edited by Buddaman: Jan 5 2009, 04:21 PM

Case in point: the mystery cache in Northwest PA that was the conclusion of an elaborate cache series. The owner hid the container on the grounds of the police station, given that his next door neighbor was the police chief. Permission was quite clear. The first finders had a nice chat about the cache with the desk sergeant when they visited.

That cache was later blown up by the bomb squad.

Would a premium account at Geocaching.com have changed the outcome? Would making every bomb squad in the country a cache reviewer (so they can see multi and mystery locations) have changed the outcome?

This is a very important point...
My only addition is that, in a case that may be considered an "imminent threat," there is just not time to log on to gc.com and look up caches.

I know the rest of us may do that at work but in a situation like that hesitation may mean lives.

Ammo cans and swag are cheap and if it is mistaken for a bomb it was probably not in a good spot to begin with.

I live with in twenty miles of the cache Keysone mentions and if I remember correctly there were more than twenty other caches that needed to be found to get the coords for that one.

- Rev Mike

This post has been edited by Rev Mike: Jan 6 2009, 01:08 AM

Moving to the Geocaching Topics Forum. Not really a Web Site issue.

Hurrah. We get to discuss this issue, again.

Don't see many caches blown up in the middle of a forest.

As a law enforcement officer, I think Groundspeak should send me the final locations to all the puzzle caches with 50 miles of my home coords.
Strictly for, uh... professional purposes... yeah, that's it, professional purposes.

Exactly.

What is this forest of which you speak?

Imagine if you will acres of land devoted to the growth of plants the same size as (and in some cases larger than) a lamp post. A place full of animals that are both similar to but different than dogs, cats, hamsters, and gerbils... Like where the Ewoks lived in Return of the Jedi, but FOR REAL. Legend has it they used to be everywhere.

If you could just find such a place that would be a great spot for hiding a cache. You could like cover the ammo can with pieces of the big plant thingys and NOBODY would ever find it for like weeks.

Man that would so rock.

This post has been edited by Castle Mischief: Jan 6 2009, 12:07 PM

It does. But some of those animals consider the bipeds to be a food source. I would leave the blackberries alone and watch my back.

Jim

I'm only aware of a few of those within driving distance. I would hate to only have those few locales to cache in.

Here's one.
Homeward Bound

It's all good. I use a Treo.

Crazy new regulations are a by product of grandstanding politicans who love to hear themselves speak, but who don't really have the public interest at heart. If they did they would remember that it's about freedom. It's what we want, it's what they need to protect.

That said the single best thing a person could do to LEO and bomb squads is to get them hooked on caching.

My one cache that was reported (as a drug stash) was located on a hiking trail, near a rest area, by a pond, that mostly saw sportsmans access and use.

If a cache is blown up in the middle of a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?

Is that what they call a forest in Nevada?

Yes, caching in the forest can be a lot of fun. I enjoyed doing it for several hours on New Year's Day, and plan to do it on my day off tomorrow. But I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon and wasn't able to get to a forest, and still had fun finding the three caches I was able to get to in town this afternoon on the way there.

People join the bomb squad because they like to blow things up. If they are called out, there is a pretty good chance something's gonna go BOOM! Caches placed with permission and caches placed without permission get blown up. I wouldn't expect the bomb squad to stop and check with us before doing their job, which is to protect citizens, and blow things up safely.

Exactly, it's a given that boys will naturally gravitate to, fire, water, dirt and things that go BOOM!.

Even if you were to open the container, dump all the items out and then show the bomb squad it empty, they would have you fill it back up and proceed to destroy it with a BOOM, and you, being the boy that you are would just LOVE it.

I can only speak for the 'boys" of us, other sexes may see this differently.

It's pretty much guaranteed that the media will report "high tech buried treasure game causes bomb scare and shut down traffic for hours on end" so the chance of any cache getting 'sploded without making a noise is pretty slim.

Semi-off topic- I have google news alerts set to email me any time "geocache" pops up. I'm really impressed and very proud of the coverage the new caching trail in Maryland is getting in the news. A very refreshing change from the "mysterious yet completely transparent plastic container blown to pieces in the name of justice" tag lines that I see whenever the bomb squad gets the call.

This post has been edited by Castle Mischief: Jan 7 2009, 07:27 AM

I wonder how dangerous it would be if they had to blow up a transformer?? We'd have dangerous electricity falling down all over the place! Oh no, run for your lives!!!!!!

LOL, no but when the oil that fills that transformer rains down fire on the surrounding buildings could be quite fun to watch!