A Geocache causes a bomb scare in Auckland NZ… makes international news!

Everyone it seams likes a good scare or major threat these days, world news is full of terrorist threats, bomb scares and epidemics, “Good news is no news” has never been more true even if it involves stretching, misinterpreting or blatant miss-reporting of the facts and truth.

<rant mode on>
The slightest hint of suspicion is taken so seriously with enormous amounts of time and resources assigned when maybe a little common sense would have been a better solution? “Better safe then sorry” But doesn’t this apply to everyday life? Suddenly a potential bomb threat is more likely to endanger life than the known real offenders on the streets causing injury and loss of life to innocent people on a daily basis. This is fairly typical as the resources have already been assigned for dealing with these (potential) threats, the procedures already in place, and guidelines followed to the letter (well would you want to be the one held accountable if it was real!?). What is the real threat out there? Understandably there is a real threat out there, but with today’s global reporting, world incidents suddenly appear to be relevant on a local level; You won’t find a rubbish bin on a train station in London, leave a bag unattended and if the thieves operating at the station don’t grab it first then it’s whisked away by security as a suspicious package. So should bins in all public places be removed? If for whatever reason you post white powder it has to be anthrax and dealt with accordingly.. Shut the post sorting depot and decontaminate all the workers first before reading the label addressed to the local bakery.
</rant mode off>

If someone had dropped a briefcase in the same manor as the cache, would it have been given the same degree of alarm? From what I understand the police have confiscated the cache and the contents, surly this is simply lost property? They made a mistake.. it wasn’t a bomb.. Hand it back over!

“An electronic package tracked online” ??? Where did they get this from? I’m thinking someone hit Geocaching.com and read the travel bug page and made the rest up to get the story out first. What I find most frustrating is the missed opportunity to use this to educate people as to what Geocaching is about, what containers look like and clues to help spot Geocachers. There is typically NO electronics in the box, a computer is only a tool and not an essential element unlike how it was reported. Geocaching is a game you can make your own, but any way you look at it, it’s about getting out and about AWAY from the computer, there are many people that don’t log an entry online choosing only to sign the hidden log book.

When we place caches we are often concerned about locals seeing new people coming and going and worse still rummaging around in a nearby bushes There is that fine line between keeping a cache well hidden and informing local residence of it’s location to avoid alarm. A better use of the media’s time would have been to show how the police made this mistake and show the signs to look out for, the Geocaching logo, What a GPS unit looks like, typical hiding locations. I especially like the wording of the stash note that should be included in every cache, you know the one…

“GEOCACHE SITE – PLEASE READ, Congratulations, you’ve found it! Intentionally or not! What is this hidden container sitting here for? What the heck is this thing doing here with all these things in it? …etc“

It’s simple, fairly concise, uses common language to describe the activities without using the word Cache, speaking of which…

Geocaching, Caching, Cache
day-ta or daa-ta ? Why is everyone pronouncing this wrong? It’s out there now and I think everyone is too polite to correct anyone!? It’s almost at the point where I think I would pronounce it the wrong way if I were interviewed on TV! Every reference to the word Cache describes the pronunciation as Cash.

From Wikipedia:
Cache (pronounced like “Cash” )

From the top page of Geocaching.com FAQ page:

How do you pronounce Geocaching? You pronounce it Geo-cashing, like cashing a check.”

Does it reeeeeeealy matter? YES!

Should Geocaches be more clearly marked? The biggest issue with the official Groundspeak logo is the registered trademark on it and it’s non commercial use
(which is a shame as they note on their terms of use page: “when an image like the logo is so widely known that it comes to symbolize not just our products and services but also the entire game/sport of Geocaching.”). There are a number of other logos out there including our own Kiwi Geocaching logo made especially for use in New Zealand. One other alternate logo that has gained widespread use (and is in the public domain) is the Letherman design, details here

In rural situations it’s often possible to put large marking or wording on the outside of the container describing what it hidden. Urban Geocaching requires a little more subtlety in their placement and camouflage, after all the intention is that the general public should not be aware of them! It’s one thing to clearly mark a cache with a logo but without public recognition it’s only real use is a clue to the Geocacher locating it.

Even with clearly marked containers and public awareness would this have made a difference? Should it!? How long before a terrorist uses this disguise for a very real threat? The abandoned shopping bags on the footpath should cause equal suspicion as a hidden click-clack container.

- Andy ,

Official Police Report:
Time: 18:00 13-02-2008
District: Auckland City
Incident Type: SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE
Location: MAYORAL DRIVE, AUCKLAND CITY
What happened: At approximately 6pm this evening the Defence Force revealed the suspicious package located in Mayoral Drive was not explosive nor a danger to any member of the public.
All cordons have been lifted from the area and Police and Defence staff have dispersed. The package is believed to be a “Geocache”. A “Geocache” is apparently an electronic package used by computer buffs that can be tracked electronically around the world. The computer buffs use them as a form of entertainment.
Issued by: Inspector Gary Hill

Link to website of Geocacher helping police at the scene.

Link to Geocache in question.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 11:41 am and is filed under GeoCaching, News & Information. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.