jannik wrote: ↑Sun Jan 12, 2020 9:27 pm
I could follow the phone via gps for a while but the police didn't want to use that information.
I found it odd the few times that I've had interaction with the police and they seem to have not been interested in ever even finding stolen property.
And on that note, while I've never actually had anything kite related stolen yet, I did have a police officer really try to hassle and find something to "get me in the system" with.
I was kiting on private land and was close to a road. I must have made a driver on the road nervous, because someone called the police on me and the sheriff showed up. He flagged me down and I kited it over to him and he asked me, "Do you have permission to be here?" I told him no, I did not. Then he said, "so you are tresspassing?" And I said no sir, I am not trespassing. And there is no physical barrier preventing me from entering this property, nor is it posted no trespassing, nor have I been asked to leave by the owner, owner's agent, or leassee.
At that, he looked pissed that he could not get me to admit to doing something which I was not doing. So he then asked where my vehicle was and I pointed across the county line which was the road on which he was parked and had no jurisdiction in. Given that he had not gotten me to admit to something, he had no grounds to go outside of his jurisdiction to search my vehicle. So then he told me I had to leave, which even though under the law I could come back since he is not the owner or the owner's agent, I still had to leave at that time.
If you are ever snowkiting private land with or without permission, make sure you know the local laws regarding trespassing. And make sure you never admit to anything that a police officer tries to get you to admit. And they are very very good at it.
Also I would suggest never kiting on family-owned farm ground without permission. Family-owned farm ground is very easy to get in contact with the owner and get permission, or be denied permission to be on. Once you have been denied permission or asked to leave, never go back to that location and make sure no other kiter goes back to that location also. Most of the places that I was kiting on without permission were bank-owned or real estate / developer or out of state owner commercial development land. That type of land is a little more difficult to even get in contact with anyone who could give you permission. And be sure to always know your local laws regarding trespassing. In the US, different states have different statues. So my experience would not have worked in some place like Idaho, we're trespassing laws are much more strict.
Avoiding theft by law enforcement is important to. We know they don't activly help to get our gear back, and they're usually looking to use this as a revenue generation source. So be careful in these situations, as dealing with law enforcement can sometimes be worse than dealing with Crooks who you never have to see again.