$1.41, big brother and the WSP at Marathon Park

[dignit]

This morning on my way home from work, I stopped by Marathon Park in Olympia on the Capitol Lake. It was 7:00 a.m. I had just popped out two quarters, a nickel, and a mini-pocket dump which amounted to three more quarters, a dime and a penny. Comes now a patrol man with the Washington State Patrol. I figured, nice to see the men in blue, since you often see weirdo's an ne'er do wells which most of us know give us the creeps when we see them. The WSP yells at me "Hey, no digging in the park! You are on camera". He walks over to me and I ask him "can't I even pop the coins out of the ground? My trowel is used just for that, popping the coins out of the ground that have been trampled in, or pressed in by the lawn mowers. He said "No. You are on camera, and if I get another call that you are digging, I am going to come back and give you a ticket". I decided, based upon the nasty disposition of this officer, that I should not argue with him. Especially since I seen him looking nervously to his left and right, and had a look in his eye as if he wanted to give me a jolt from his taser and charge me with disorderly conduct or resisting arrest. I looked around, and sure enough, mounted on a light pole was a small smoked glass globe that contained a surveillance camera, the kind they use in the stores that can rotate 360 degrees, zoom in, etc. So I hung around about another hour just swinging, just to let Mr. Camera Watcher know I am not going to let him try to ruin my pursuit of happiness by sending the police out with their threats of court summonses. I wonder how many rapists, robbers and drug dealers were doing their deeds un-noticed on some street while he was spying on me trying to catch me "digging" in the park. I also wondered what the police intend to do about those dinner plate sized patches of grass where their pets have killed the grass with their excrement and urine? Is all we have to worry about is some old man wandering around the park and mussing the grass such a big crime that we have to dispatch our public servants to quell this nuisance? Are we MD'ers making such a mess of these parks they have to install surveillance cameras, and pay to have someone watch them? I think not. Fellow MD'ers, for all our sakes, if you dig holes, make sure you cover them and use the flap if you are cutting into the grass so it can grow back.

 

[Mark in S.E. IA]

Sorry to hear about your little run in with the cop's. It's not going to be too many years down the road before we are not able to MD on any public grounds and that's not right.

 

[TURNMASTER]

State cops yet! Not even the locals. Wow I didn't Know it was like that on that side of the state. Was it a private camera on a house or public,on puplic property?

Have you checked into the permit system in Olympia? In Spokane (county and city) you get permits 1 is free the other carries a small fee. Then in the Valley it is a no permit system for the parks.

At least if you know what your rights are you can have an educated response for the officer next time.

If it is legal, it would be fun to go back to the same park Just Because You Can.

Good Luck,
Jeff

 

[Beale]

If it was me I would check with the city to make sure that he was correct. He could have just wanted to "spout off". Most city parks will have the laws posted on the city site. Give it a look, Beale.

 

[BarnacleBill]

When I first read your post something didn't make sense. Usually parks are are patrolled by locals and it is one of the places a metro cop will be assigned if he screws up in some fashion. It is not exactly a plum assignment. Then I saw the word Capitol and wondered if it might be part of your state Capitol District. Sure enough, a little research & it is. But this WSP may have done you a favor, if you are looking for old coins you are drilling a dry hole.:sad:

Here's a link to information about the park, and I quote:

"Marathon Park was constructed in 1970 by placing 58,000 cubic yards of fill material next to an existing railroad berm in the north basin of Capitol Lake."

http://www.ga.wa.gov/visitor/Parks/MarathonPark.htm

Maybe around the fringe areas with little or no fill you might find something old, but my guess that most of it is going to be clad, aluminum trash, and maybe a gold ring once in awhile. I'd research other places that hold more promise.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[Goes4ever]

private property is the way to go!