Quote Originally Posted by MartinL View Post
The guy who cases a place to rob wouldnt have be the actual robbers. Besides, if he was, it could happen months later if the guy was the crook. Time makes it complicated enough to forget about that detector. But, things are more organized than one guy casing and then abruptly robbing. His cousin and his friends would organize and rob ya.

I still say I wouldn't chance any stranger hunting my yard after my robbery experience. Let's say that a place where a detector had gotten permission and hunted, and then the place was busted into in the back yard a weekor more later. Shouldn't the homeowner think about that stranger? Maybe wonder about the liscense plate not jotted down? I just won't promote them giving easy permssion to strangers to any of my friends and family. The feeling after you are broken into once makes you distrust even some of the friends-of-friends. You don't need a total stranger out of the blue,,,I won't.
As far as your yard, that's your prerogative whether or not you want to allow detectorists. This is a forum and peole have their opinions. I just hope their wasn't trolling. You already explained you had a break in, but if you never allow detectorists on your property, then the break in didnt come about from being cased from a detectorist so the two instances are different, however, being compared as the same. I wanna bet 10:1 that Zrickkid's instance was exactly the same as what Brian and Lee ran into over this summer. Zrickkid was telling the truth, but from his perspective. I am fairly certain the first owner had no idea of the matter and assumes it's like a forbidden thing, got scared and called the cops. By the time they were asking at another house, the cops have this story to tell that properties are being targeted by people pretending to be detectorists (but actually referring to the actual detectorist without realizing the people were calling about them). You have to look at things a bit more intuitively to make a generalized statement. There needs to be a lot of variables met for casing by posing as detectorists to be the issue. It has to be specifically an older home, because it would be the most ridiculous thing to ask at a pricey looking neighborhood that was built less than 50 years ago to detect there. Instantly the homeowner would know something is awry and doing a crime you might want to keep a low profile. If you own an old home and the person asking to detect is really there to case the property, your house has already been specifically targeted. And if you are targeted, I am sure they have already determined you don't have a home alarm system or a deterrant like the brinks or ADT signs or stickers. It's extremely hard to case a place from just a few hours of detecting to determine the person's schedule to know when they won't be home and for how long. I am sure there are far better ways to case a place than to pose as a detectorist. Heck, you can hide a wireless camera near by and don't even have to be around to get a 24 hour surveilance to determine absolutely the person's schdule and when the house was vacant. So I am saying if ever, detecting was used as a scapegoat, it was most likely at a targeted old house and the person was knocking to see if anyone was home, then using detecting as an excuse as to why they were there when someone does answer.

Yes, inform others that there is a chance a detectorist can be profiled wrong and be aware of such when they go around asking for permission. Maybe to chose how they present themselves better; I think outright telling them "I'm not here to check out your possessions" is shooting yourself in the foot. Others should be aware of the instances that occur more often, tho. I went to the resident trooper to ask at an "abandoned" property and he said yes as long as I don't go inside. Yet another town I didn't go directly to the police for another abandoned property, and someone who wasn't the owner called the police claiming it was his property, and they cops me this story about people breaking in to steal the copper from the plumbing. Another town it was a stupid woman who thought she was right and her property included town property and supposedly there were drugs being done in the area... it was a cul-de-sac in the middle of no where. If anyone was doing drugs, it was her. And a street near me, clearly on the assessor map the street is still owned by the town even tho its blocked off and unpaved yet when I went there, I got the person at the end watching me and giving me a threatening attitude telling me this bs about things happening in the neighborhood and that the assessor was wrong and someone owned the propery (ies) from one street to the next. Again, using this farce statement because he didn't like what he saw. How come if I live in the same area, did he hear about criminal activity there, yet I did not?

If I was Zrickkid, I would have probably stood my ground a little more. Ask me 10 years ago I would be saying different, but I suggest knowing your state's general statute. It's not the movie Rambo where the police can tell you to get out of the city limits just because they don't like the way you look, and arrest you if you don't comply. I would be asking for a lawyer right then and there. Allowing the authorities to have a totalitarian attitude is how your civil rights get trampled without you knowing any better. I suggest not to define door knocking as a bad thing because it's hard enough to do as it is. I only know three people with older homes: 1746, 1820/40, and 1900. So just shy of relying on public parks and schools (which can be off limits in some areas forcing you to rely on the private property), you kinda have to rely on door knocking. Are you seriously going to purchase all these properties yourself just to have permission to do them?