Following the Wetherby Bomb scare we – the GAGB committee - have listened to the feedback on the Urban guideline and realised that we should have done this better.
We’ve decided to run a consultation period on the new Urban guideline and invite cachers to suggest new wording for the guideline. This consultation will run until Friday night, midnight (BST).
Discussions are ongoing with the Police both at the ACPO and individual Police Force level, so further changes may yet become necessary as a result of these discussions. We are also in dialogue with Groundspeak Reviewers.
This guideline came from the response to the Wetherby Bomb Scare. A cacher (finder) was reported behaving suspiciously. The Police Force discovered a box wrapped in black tape and the Bomb Squad were called, who dealt with the box. The cacher received a caution.
The guideline that we issued last Friday is as follows:
“Urban caches should be placed to minimise the chance of security alerts. It is essential that micros and larger are marked externally as a geocache with the relevant listing site reference (eg: GCxxxxxx, OKxxxxxx or OXxxxxxx). Containers larger than 35mm containers should have clear sides to enable inspection without opening. Cache pages must contain the following wording: This cache meets the GAGB Urban Placement Guidelines”
The purpose of the guideline is to alert cache hiders to the potential security concerns of placing a cache in an environment with muggles who may become suspicious of cache finders’ behaviour. We have described this as “Urban” and need a definition of Urban, proposals would be very welcome.
Early discussions with the Police highlighted the need to have way to identify a cache quickly if it is identified as a suspect package. A listing site reference such as GCxxxxxx, OKxxxxxx or OXxxxxxx is the fastest, most reliable way to do this. Identification of a cache via mapping may also be useful but does require communication between an Officer on the ground and control room of a precise location to identify a cache, and does not cover the physical stages of multi and puzzle caches. A reference would ideally be carried on any container bid enough to carry it, we need to clarify the size of container.
The Wetherby cache was deemed suspicious partly because it was covered in black tape and included a cable tie as a handle. This is addressed in the guideline by specifying clear sides for caches large enough to be of concern. However, this has raised questions about how easy it will be to check contents, the size of cache which this should apply to, and how to define this size.
The requirement to include a reference to this guideline on cache pages is now being reconsidered by the GAGB committee on the basis that GAGB should make recommendations and not state requirements in guidelines. Such a statement would help draw attention to the guideline so a recommendation to include the guideline is being considered.
Comments can be made on identical postings on the GAGB forum, GAGB facebook page or Groundspeak UK forum and will be reviewed by the GAGB committee.
On a related note, I would welcome volunteers from Police Officers within the caching community who are willing to become Points of Contact for their Force. Please contact me through my profile.
Dave Edwards
Chairman