Geocaching, what to do?

[Mark]

A massive over reaction by the police to someone looking for a geocache.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14039229

[ioan]

To many stupid people on Earth:



Karen Brittain, whose café door is just a few feet from where the container was left on 1 July, was alarmed by the man's behaviour and called the police, who then sealed off the area.

She said: "We were closed down for several hours and it was a disaster for us really, because we had been very busy that morning and it was a beautiful day and we probably would have been very busy."

First she alarms the police and then she complains that she lost money because of it. Go figure! :rolleyes:

[Malbec]

A massive over reaction by the police to someone looking for a geocache.

BBC News - Geocaching: the unintended results (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14039229)

Given the current climate though, is a hobby based on hiding things in boxes in public places such a good idea?

[GridGirl]

I've come across something similar but I know what geocaching is. I saw someone trying to find a motorway mayhem cache on a bridge over the M62/M1 a mile or to from my house. I automatically thought "Ooohhh I didn't know that there was a geocache there" and then I thought about it a bit more and his behaviour could have easily been mistaken for someone that may have been thinking about jumping from the bridge and committing suicide. :s

[555-04Q2]

You have got to be sh!tt!ng me. What a dumb problem to have. The world is so frikkin paranoid these days.

[Daniel]

Geocaching, a good walk ruined :p

[intheway]

Umm... have we forgotten the days of the IRA bombings in England??? A pipe bomb would fit nicely into a little hiding place like that.

Some people have every right to be paranoid.

[Daniel]

Indeed. Omagh, Warrington, Manchester, Canary Wharf (London), Birmingham, and Coventry have all been bombed during my lifetime by devices left in public places and that was just the IRA. The July 7th bombings of 2005 which has its sixth year anniversary today .

Always very strange for me to share me birthday with a terrorist attack

I remember crapping myself because both of my brothers lived in London at the time and I had no idea which buses or trains they would have used.....

[GridGirl]

I graduated from university on 7/7 all be it in a different year.

There is a part of me that wonders why there is so much fuss about geocaching now when it's been around for more than 11 years? It's not exactly a new thing although you could probably say it's more accessible than ever before with an increasing number of people walking round with smartphones that have built in GPS receivers. Even Center Parcs started offering it as an activity about three or four years ago.

Although it has to said that not all Geocaches are boxes. Some are magnets which are a bit thicker than a watch battery, some are old film canisters (who knew they would still have a use in a digital the camera era) and some can just be magnetic signs.

[Dave B]

Always very strange for me to share me birthday with a terrorist attack

I remember crapping myself because both of my brothers lived in London at the time and I had no idea which buses or trains they would have used.....

I share mine with the bombing of Hiroshima!

[Rollo]

On the site of a place where the IRA bombed a building, someone appears to have geocached a giant pineapple.

[intheway]

I share mine with the bombing of Hiroshima!

By the law of averages, so do around 19 million other people!! :)

[Mark]

There's only a fuss now because of the misunderstanding of police in Wetherby. If there can be geocaches outside government buildings in Westminster then I'm sure there can be in Wetherby.

[GridGirl]

Mark, you are right of course but Geocaching predates both the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks. If there was going to be some fuss kicked up about geocaching I would have expected it to have happened long before now and would most likely to have involved a much higher authority that the police in Weatherby. :s Dont get me wrong as I can see why a fuss would be kicked up but I just cant understand why it would take some random cafe owner to kick up the fuss rather than a government agency for example.

[ioan]

Given the current climate though, is a hobby based on hiding things in boxes in public places such a good idea?

The hobby has been around for longer then this 'dumbening' of the masses with security threats.

[Malbec]

The hobby has been around for longer then this 'dumbening' of the masses with security threats.

No it hasn't. IRA bombing of mainland Britain started in the late '70s. Geocaching depends on GPS which has only been around for a decade or slightly longer.

Like many others on this forum seeing boxes hidden in public places still sends a shiver down my spine. If you want to know why look at the list of towns henners88 named further up this thread.

[J4MIE]

Geocaching, a good walk ruined :p

Indeed :D

I'd never thought about it before (as usual) but can totally see why it might look suspicious looking around for one.

[mickw]

Anyone hiding anything in a public place has got to be suspicious. If the police fail to investigate all similar calls on the basis that it might be a 'geocache' there would be a lot of questions to be answered when one day an IED went off killing the public. It is all too easy to criticise, they are dammed if they do - and dammed if they don't.

[GridGirl]

No it hasn't. IRA bombing of mainland Britain started in the late '70s. Geocaching depends on GPS which has only been around for a decade or slightly longer.

Like many others on this forum seeing boxes hidden in public places still sends a shiver down my spine. If you want to know why look at the list of towns henners88 named further up this thread.

Technically you are incorrect if you are of the opinion that geocaching is merely a modern day version of Letterboxing. Letterboxing can be traced back to 1854. This is well over 100 years before the IRA bombings in the 1970's.

[Daniel]

Technically you are incorrect if you are of the opinion that geocaching is merely a modern day version of Letterboxing. Letterboxing can be traced back to 1854. This is well over 100 years before the IRA bombings in the 1970's.

Why is it that all the really dull and boring hobbies seem to originate in Britain? Or if not originating in Britain, they're popular heere.

[ioan]

No it hasn't. IRA bombing of mainland Britain started in the late '70s. Geocaching depends on GPS which has only been around for a decade or slightly longer.

Like many others on this forum seeing boxes hidden in public places still sends a shiver down my spine. If you want to know why look at the list of towns henners88 named further up this thread.

When was the last IRA bombing?!
You people should learn to live your lives in a normal way, and better do it sooner than later.

And before you start a tirade, let me me tell you that since a couple of years I am responsible for business in the middle east and I spend a lot of time over there, in both Arab countries and in Israel. I've even got the chance to be out on a terrace when an Israeli town was hit by missiles this year, still I stayed another week and even went back several times without any kind of shivers down my spine.

Another example is the difference between the messages that are being aired in airports and railway station in Europe. In some countries they downright scare people, while in some others they only say that unattended baggage will be removed by police.

IMO people should take a deep breath and chill down before calling the police for whatever crap.

[Malbec]

When was the last IRA bombing?!
You people should learn to live your lives in a normal way, and better do it sooner than later.

IMO people should take a deep breath and chill down before calling the police for whatever crap.

Unfortunately the IRA and its successor, continuity IRA or whatever they call themselves these days are not alone. Over the past few years we had the London nailbomber and of course amateur 'Islamic' terrorists (still active I believe). In my line of work we also have the pleasure of animal rights groups who prefer to use carbombs and incendiaries.

That means that I do look out for suspicious behaviour subconsciously, its been part of my life for so long and the threat still exists. Would you prefer it that people ignore it when boxes are hidden in public places without challenging it? Does that mean I live my life in fear? No.

I understand that you live your life in a simplistic black and white but believe me, while Londoners are used to terrorism and living with its threat we most certainly don't let it bring us down. Try finding anywhere in the Middle East thats as much fun as London town....

[ioan]

I understand that you live your life in a simplistic black and white but believe me, while Londoners are used to terrorism and living with its threat we most certainly don't let it bring us down. Try finding anywhere in the Middle East thats as much fun as London town....

Simplistic black and white?! :laugh: Nice try. I live a normal life without the constant fear of 'terrorists' in my mind.
Have a trip to Tel Aviv and you'll see plenty of fun and more, and people who don't continuously look out for hidden bombs and similar stuff.

Letting the fear take over your lives and live in a constant state of paranoia is the wrong choice, just sayin'.

[Mark]

I agree with ioan! If we don't conduct our lives in a normal manner then terrorism has indeed achived it's aims.

[ioan]

I agree with ioan! If we don't conduct our lives in a normal manner then terrorism has indeed achived it's aims.

Exactly. People believe that terrorism means killing people, while in fact is about terrorizing people, making their everyday lives a hell.

[Malbec]

Simplistic black and white?! :laugh: Nice try. I live a normal life without the constant fear of 'terrorists' in my mind.

As do I. Being vigilant does not equal living in fear. I wonder if you can understand this subtle point.

[Malbec]

Have a trip to Tel Aviv and you'll see plenty of fun and more, and people who don't continuously look out for hidden bombs and similar stuff.

Are you kidding? The level of everyday security intrusion in Tel Aviv is miles worse than anything seen in London and the security hassle starts the moment you check in for an El Al flight in your home country. As for the mood, it must have improved a bit since the dark days a few years back during the suicide bombings.

If you want to pick a country where 'security' permeates just about every aspect of life Israel is a great example.

[intheway]

Being vigilant does not equal living in fear. I wonder if you can understand this subtle point.

Exactly. This whole "living in fear" this is being seriously dramatised because of one incident.

This woman reported something to the cops, that's it. I doubt she walks around with her ears pricked like a cat, cowering every time she hears a car backfire. She saw something out of the ordinary and acted on it.

[ioan]

As do I. Being vigilant does not equal living in fear. I wonder if you can understand this subtle point.

I perfectly got your point since the start of the discussion. You posted this:


Like many others on this forum seeing boxes hidden in public places still sends a shiver down my spine. If you want to know why look at the list of towns henners88 named further up this thread.

[ioan]

Are you kidding? The level of everyday security intrusion in Tel Aviv is miles worse than anything seen in London and the security hassle starts the moment you check in for an El Al flight in your home country. As for the mood, it must have improved a bit since the dark days a few years back during the suicide bombings.

If you want to pick a country where 'security' permeates just about every aspect of life Israel is a great example.

Try not flying El Al next time, I only fly Austrian and no problems at all, a simple security and passport check when checking in and when arriving to Israel, not different from any other non EU destination, about as complicated like last time when I did fly to Macedonia.

And never ever was I stopped by police in Israel in the long weeks spent there.

And the mood is great, people live their lives just like normal people do in Europe even though they were at war and had plenty of suicide bombings just a couple of years ago.

Anyway back to the highly dangerous topic of geocaching, LOL!

[driveace]

I would not say an "over reaction",the Yorkshire woman was doing as she has been asked to do,and was being vigilant,as a lot of the "Bombers" that have done damage in the UK have had links with Bradford, and Leeds.,which are only 20 miles from her in Wetherby.We can be vigilant without being paraniod,and living life with fear of another bombing,after all although the Spanish have arrested (supposedly) the ring leaders of ETA,there is NO guarantee that there will be NO more attacks in Spain.

[Malbec]

And never ever was I stopped by police in Israel in the long weeks spent there.

And the mood is great, people live their lives just like normal people do in Europe even though they were at war and had plenty of suicide bombings just a couple of years ago.

Really?

So the high security around shopping centres is all gone? Security guards checking people over outside clubs and restaurants has stopped? No more armed police?

They must have torn down that huge wall they were building to separate themselves from the West Bank too.

Really ioan since we've both been to Tel Aviv I think you can acknowledge that suggesting that every day life is less affected by terrorism than London is patently false.

[Malbec]

School teachers escorting children across the road with MP-5's strapped to their chests

Maybe thats why they don't 'live in fear'? ;)

[Daniel]

Ioan, I normally think you're quite a sensible person, but using Israel as an example of a country which isn't paranoid?????

[ioan]

You might have wanted to use a different example to Israel ioan?? I've been to Tel Aviv (as a youngster) and I would say its the most paranoid place I have ever seen and for good reason. School teachers escorting children across the road with MP-5's strapped to their chests and they don't live in fear?? Are you kidding me? Armed check points, and a massive steel wall segregating them from people they fear? Sorry but thats a bad example and has nothing in common with the United Kingdom. I'm pretty sure the people of Israel wouldn't ignore an individual hiding a package in a public place and I personally wouldn't believe anyone who says they would.

It is much better now, really.
Last time I was there they had their national drills for anti bombing security, it was to be executed 2 times and everyone was to go to the shelters.
I was stunned to see that during the evening test (at 19:00) when I looked out from my balcony everyone was going about their normal life walking on the street, playing on the beach and so on.



Don't be under the false impression that we walk about our daily lives looking for bombs under our cars and terrorists being the topic of most conversations. But if I see someone hiding something in a public place and doing it in a suspicious way, I will report it as it is my duty. If I ignored it and it ended up being another terror attack not only would I look very stupid, but it would be something I would have on my conscience for the rest of my life whether I wanted it or not. Of course don't let the fear dictate your life but don't ignore it completely for obvious reasons.

Easiest way is to ask the suspicious person what they are doing. This is what I would have done, go out there and ask the person what is doing with the box, if it's nothing dangerous you'll get an answer if it's a bomb the person will most probably run away.

In this case the coffee shop owner preferred to call the police and then complain about how much money she lost due to the police securing the area. Either she fears for her life and is happy that nothing happened or she is an effin' hypocrite who cares more about the money.

[ioan]

Ioan, I normally think you're quite a sensible person, but using Israel as an example of a country which isn't paranoid?????

Don't confuse politicians with the people living there.
If they were paranoid you wouldn't see them out in very crowded streets and markets like those of Jerusalem. What they are doing is living their lives in a normal way in spite of the ever present threat.

[Mark]

Just to point out that there are many geocaches in Tel Aviv.