Ronstar
Well-known member
Pardon the length but it explains the entire scenario.
Last Thursday I was sweeping the parking strip in an older neighborhood where the first elementary school in town is across the street. I was using the F75 with the Sharpshooter coil. I was finding mainly clad and a couple relic like recoveries. Near one street corner I made a repeatable hit indicating 93-94 and 10-12” deep. This has my attention as could be half or whole dollar but dont want to dig that deep right at that particular moment. I mentally marked the spot as being about 18-24” from a street sign (no interference from the metal post).
I knew I was going back out on Sunday so asked Jeff if he would check the spot with his CTX3030 and see if similar response. When I went back I had the SEF Butterfly on and could not locate the spot. We moved further up the strip to another sign post.
Some guy was burning yard waste and asked if we were with a utility company looking for buried lines. I responded I was a hobbiest and kept looking. He raised his voice and ordered me off “his property”, I advised him it was public access off the street and the City owned the strip (area between the sidewalk and curb). This incensed him to say the least. More orders to leave and boy I better not dig attitude or he would call the police. Go ahead I told him so he did. Told the dispatcher we were walking all around his property and refusing to leave, we never left the strip .
A few minutes go by and a city officer arrives. I knew the officer so he came to speak with me first. I advised public right of way but he said he didnt know exactly where those lines would be and asked if we would simply walk away as a measure to deescalate and keep the peace. I knew we were on body cam and the look he was giving me was our guy is a pain in the rear and didnt really want to get it riled up. His suggestion was for me to get a letter or form from city hall authorizing what we were doing. BS. So we left.
But this is not done.
Called city hall this morning and spoke Engineers Office at Street Dept. Public Right of Way confirmed on the parking strips. Conforming to national standards, the ROW is usually 60-80 feet with a public street in the middle depending on street width (so 30-40 feet from center of the road both directions). There is no form or permit for detecting just as there is no permit for walking on it either. Thank You very much.
Call patrol supervisor this morning who reviews call. Officer should have known ROW standards but more importantly should have advised Mr Nice of same. Officer to be assigned to return to the complainant and inform him he does not own the strip and can not order people to leave etc.
Important here: do your research and find out both your State Codes and City Codes regarding ROW boundaries. If you write down those code numbers you may be able to provide them to the the officer as they should have a code book in the car with them. I would of loved to have been there if a supervisor would have responded who knew the code just so I could have seen the smirk on Mr Nice’s face disappear.
I did not cower at the threat of police response. I felt this guy was not the physical threat type, rather he suffers from the I’m important type. I confirmed my knowledge of the laws and ordinances which could affect my sport and my behavior. I did not know the codes but I do now.
side note: the idiot had an illegal burn (yard waste) going on during closed burning period. Officer to also warn him about that as there was no mention in his report of him doing that......
Last Thursday I was sweeping the parking strip in an older neighborhood where the first elementary school in town is across the street. I was using the F75 with the Sharpshooter coil. I was finding mainly clad and a couple relic like recoveries. Near one street corner I made a repeatable hit indicating 93-94 and 10-12” deep. This has my attention as could be half or whole dollar but dont want to dig that deep right at that particular moment. I mentally marked the spot as being about 18-24” from a street sign (no interference from the metal post).
I knew I was going back out on Sunday so asked Jeff if he would check the spot with his CTX3030 and see if similar response. When I went back I had the SEF Butterfly on and could not locate the spot. We moved further up the strip to another sign post.
Some guy was burning yard waste and asked if we were with a utility company looking for buried lines. I responded I was a hobbiest and kept looking. He raised his voice and ordered me off “his property”, I advised him it was public access off the street and the City owned the strip (area between the sidewalk and curb). This incensed him to say the least. More orders to leave and boy I better not dig attitude or he would call the police. Go ahead I told him so he did. Told the dispatcher we were walking all around his property and refusing to leave, we never left the strip .
A few minutes go by and a city officer arrives. I knew the officer so he came to speak with me first. I advised public right of way but he said he didnt know exactly where those lines would be and asked if we would simply walk away as a measure to deescalate and keep the peace. I knew we were on body cam and the look he was giving me was our guy is a pain in the rear and didnt really want to get it riled up. His suggestion was for me to get a letter or form from city hall authorizing what we were doing. BS. So we left.
But this is not done.
Called city hall this morning and spoke Engineers Office at Street Dept. Public Right of Way confirmed on the parking strips. Conforming to national standards, the ROW is usually 60-80 feet with a public street in the middle depending on street width (so 30-40 feet from center of the road both directions). There is no form or permit for detecting just as there is no permit for walking on it either. Thank You very much.
Call patrol supervisor this morning who reviews call. Officer should have known ROW standards but more importantly should have advised Mr Nice of same. Officer to be assigned to return to the complainant and inform him he does not own the strip and can not order people to leave etc.
Important here: do your research and find out both your State Codes and City Codes regarding ROW boundaries. If you write down those code numbers you may be able to provide them to the the officer as they should have a code book in the car with them. I would of loved to have been there if a supervisor would have responded who knew the code just so I could have seen the smirk on Mr Nice’s face disappear.
I did not cower at the threat of police response. I felt this guy was not the physical threat type, rather he suffers from the I’m important type. I confirmed my knowledge of the laws and ordinances which could affect my sport and my behavior. I did not know the codes but I do now.
side note: the idiot had an illegal burn (yard waste) going on during closed burning period. Officer to also warn him about that as there was no mention in his report of him doing that......
