Big Boys Hobbies

detector was confiscated

Me, I would keep fighting this. They have no warrant or a valid reason to keep your detector, it does not belong to them.

I would:

1. Call them up. Ask back for it nicely. If they say no...
2. Call up the local police department, say they are in possession of stolen property, remember, they have no right to have your detector.
3. Tell them (the local police) that they bribed you, it is illegal for them ( the NPS) or any law enforcement for that matter, to bribe someone.

Im sure #2 or #3 would turn a few gears.

Best of all, stand up for yourself, its not their metal detector, its yours!

Don't let some wimpy park rangers take something that is not theirs!
 
Detecto said:
Me, I would keep fighting this. They have no warrant or a valid reason to keep your detector, it does not belong to them.

I would:

1. Call them up. Ask back for it nicely. If they say no...
2. Call up the local police department, say they are in possession of stolen property, remember, they have no right to have your detector.
3. Tell them (the local police) that they bribed you, it is illegal for them ( the NPS) or any law enforcement for that matter, to bribe someone.

Im sure #2 or #3 would turn a few gears.

Best of all, stand up for yourself, its not their metal detector, its yours!

Don't let some wimpy park rangers take something that is not theirs!
Click to expand...


Sounds good...except it doesn't work like that. On National Park Service property rangers have the same authority as police. Also, the law specifically states that they can confiscate your detector and refuse to give it back. You can fight it in court but if they can show you simply possessed a metal detector on National Park property (except for some very specific situations) you are going to lose.
 
Drosera said:
Sounds good...except it doesn't work like that. On National Park Service property rangers have the same authority as police. Also, the law specifically states that they can confiscate your detector and refuse to give it back. You can fight it in court but if they can show you simply possessed a metal detector on National Park property (except for some very specific situations) you are going to lose.
Click to expand...

That does makes sense. But then again, if he didn't know he was on park property, he shouldn't have had it taken
 
Detecto said:
That does makes sense. But then again, if he didn't know he was on park property, he shouldn't have had it taken
Click to expand...

He did know he was on park property, he just wasn't aware that it was illegal to detect. Remember the famous saying about the law "ignorance is no excuse". From the Park Service prospective they probably would say they were lenient by not having him arrested and sent to jail, as they could have done that. By the way, I'm not defending what was done as right from a moral perspective, just a legal one. I'm all for changing the laws on this, but I seriously doubt it will happen.
 
I fully agree with you and i do believe if i got a lawyer and called the press i would have won. But you must understand im in Law Enforcement myself and i didnt need this thing to get any worse. They had already proven they were not going to be honest when they didnt give the detector back, if i chose to take them on god know what they would have made up. Even if i won They could drain me in legal fees alone.


Learn from me watch where you are hunting and when on the Cape dont hunt on the Ocean side.

Another thing i learned that nobody here probably knows is that the NPS owns the water .25 out to sea. (Thats the water only not the seabed). So if your on a boat with dive gear and metal detectors its a violation because you have to swim through their water to get to the ocean floor owned by the state.

Check this story out http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080606/NEWS/806060308/-1/NEWS06

Thats the beach i was hunting on. This guy had claimed this wreck when it was on the bottom of the ocean (on state property) But once it was pushed onto the beach the NPS told him it was now theirs.

Here is another crazy story: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/05/marblehead_dive.html
 
Blacksambellamy,this is a classc case of " hate the detectorist".Its the same over here in the UK.The archeologist(some,not all) cant stand the fact that we are unearthing important finds and unfortunatly there are some detectorists that do operate on the wrong side of the law so they seem to think we all do.We have all made mistakes,i am sure of this.I know i have but why leave something in the ground to eventually rot away when it can be saved and seen by 1000,s of other people,i will never understand there way of thinking.
 
blacksambellamy said:
you are right. but when people get burned like this they are less likley to ever report a find again.
Click to expand...

You are 100% right there and that is whats happening over here.I cannot agree with it but i do understand it.What i do now is before i detect somewhere i make 100% sure that i am allowed there.People have this idea that public footpaths and anywhere that the public can legally go on is detectable ground but it isnt.All ground belongs to someone or some group.Even beaches over here have there regulations.Anyway,have you got another machine now?
 
blacksambellamy said:
Since then i have purchased lots of gear and you can see it here at
www.underwater-explorations.com. Ive moved my detecting offshore
Click to expand...

Wow! Looks like you are a little beyond a casual metal detector! Ha Ha! Some day I hope to do some underwater detecting too. Sounds like most of the coastal States have claimed anything you find there too, though. Good luck and Happy Hunting!
-Mike-
 
Here are the laws for the state im diving in. I can understand these laws and have no problem advising them of my finds. They dont punish you for finding something they just want to make sure you recover it the proper way.


Under Massachusetts law, shipwrecks in state waters that have been unclaimed for more than 100 years, or whose value exceeds $5,000, are judged by the state Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources to be of historical value. No one can take anything from, or disturb, such sites in any way without first getting a permit from the archaeological board.

The board lays out the way in which any reconnaissance and recovery operations will be done, and requires that an archaeologist be part of the crew during excavation, with an eye toward preserving and documenting the find for historical purposes.

The permits must be renewed each year and applicants must demonstrate to the board that they have been actively looking for, and working on, whatever they find. The permits prohibit anyone else from trying to do their own underwater work, or even taking a souvenir from a wreck.
 
blacksambellamy said:
Another thing i learned that nobody here probably knows is that the NPS owns the water .25 out to sea. (Thats the water only not the seabed). So if your on a boat with dive gear and metal detectors its a violation because you have to swim through their water to get to the ocean floor owned by the state.
Click to expand...

That is a fight you could definitely win as long you do things just right and are willing to go to court if necessary. Here is a direct quote from the regulations that prevent metal detecting in National Parks:

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the following is prohibited:
(7) Possessing or using a mineral or metal detector, magnetometer, side scan sonar, other metal
detecting device, or subbottom profiler.
This paragraph does not apply to:
(i) A device broken down and stored or packed to prevent its use while in park areas.


This may be a pain to do in scuba gear, but if you can keep the detector broken down until you get under water, then assemble it there, then break it down when you are done, you are following the law.

It isn't worth the trouble in most cases, but if you found a shipwreck that was truly valuable it would be worth the hoops you have to jump through.
 
simonthesearcher said:
Blacksambellamy,this is a classc case of " hate the detectorist".Its the same over here in the UK.The archeologist(some,not all) cant stand the fact that we are unearthing important finds and unfortunatly there are some detectorists that do operate on the wrong side of the law so they seem to think we all do.We have all made mistakes,i am sure of this.I know i have but why leave something in the ground to eventually rot away when it can be saved and seen by 1000,s of other people,i will never understand there way of thinking.
Click to expand...

That is exactly correct. I too, will never understand their way of thinking either. Why let something disintigrate to nothing unground when it can be excavated and enjoyed by many??? Oh well, I guess some people just have a bug up their butt!!
 
You said you found the drone without a metal detector...On a Diffrent day all togther..You didnt really break the law that Day did you? And To try and trade The detector they took on a seperate occasion seems strange.I would have just let them have the detector and Kept the drone.Easy to get another machine.The whole set-up seems kinda shady to me..Just my personal opinion.Good luck with your situation. HH
 
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