I've had a lot of run ins with cops and security while exploring over the years.

I got caught one time at an abandoned prison by security after I very brazenly and with no regard for discretion cut three layers of fence and razor wire open. We explored almost all of the buildings on the property before we noticed the security truck parked right over our only way back out. He saw us and called out over a bullhorn for us to approach him and the police are on the way. Prisons are meant to keep people IN, not OUT. Being on the inside of the razor wire lined fences put us in an extreme disadvantage, and with no other possible means of escape, we obliged. We ended up waiting for over 45 minutes for the cops to arrive. We were given trespassing tickets and charged with MDOP for cutting the fence open. The trespassing was thrown out in court as part of the deal if we pled to the MDOP. The property owner never showed up so we didn't have to pay any restitution.

Another time I was caught at a historic abandoned hotel by the owner. Right as we were making our approach to enter, the lawn care company pulled up at the gate down the alley 100 yards away. We figured they didn't see us and wouldn't mind even if they did. They couldn't see us enter, so we did. Taking a look down from about half way up, we saw a white SUV pulled up right by the broken window we went in with the lawn guys pointing at it. Long story short; we finished our explore and came back down stairs. The guys were still right outside the window and eventually one came in. He was one of the owners. After he realized we weren't there to hurt the building, he gave us a stern talking to and let us go.

I've been caught by Detroit Public Schools Police three times.

-The first time, we tripped a motion sensor and had no idea until it was far too late to escape. We exited the building and hid in a gated courtyard for 20 or so minutes while they circled the block shining lights at the completely boarded up building. The K9 unit was finally brought in and led over to the gate. He called out for anyone and said he was going to release the dog. He gave up and came out. We were given "Entering Without Permission" citations.

After swearing off DPS properties completely, A couple years later they were (and still are) my favorite buildings to explore. By this time we've learned what all of their PIR activated cameras look like and how they function as well as knowing DPS PD average response times (average DPS cop response time is between 15 and 30 minutes, with exceptions being as low as 8 minutes and as long as 45 minutes). We also developed a protocol to determine if the camera system is operational or not. There was lots of trial and error involved in developing said protocol, much of which had to do with deliberately alarming active systems and near escapes when DPS showed up. That leads me to my second face to face encounter with them.

-One of my best friends found one of the several 2013 closures open to trespass. He followed the established procedure and found that the system was down. He says that he spent over 2 hours exploring and shooting.

We made a trip back together several days later. We used the same POE as he did a few days prior and kept an eye out for new cameras. There weren't any. After exploring for about an hour, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that was DPS pulling into the parking lot. We were fucked.

We made our way to the back doors that were the only way in/out and stepped into a class halfway down the hall to briefly talk about what to do. There was no time. Two DPS cops entered the building and started yelling for whoever to come out, so we did.

As soon as we made ourselves visible and stepped into the hallway with our hands up (one hand up in the air and the other holding our cameras on tripods at about upper chest height), the cops let out a sigh of relief mixed with disbelief. One said "Shhhhhheeeeeeiiiiiiit, look what we got here!" to the other cop who then said "AWW HELL NAW! YALL TWO GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE RIGHT NOW!"

The escorted us out of the building. One said "We've got cameras in these buildings! But you obviously didn't know that did you?!" "No no no we had no idea..." I said. But the camera system was not operational and no new devices were placed, so he was bluffing. They ended up letting us go pretty quickly without even checking our IDs. We found out later from reviewing the scanner that there was a call placed to 911 by a neighbor about people going in the building. That explains why we were able to explore for over an hour before they arrived. The call had to roll all the way down the disconnected and contrived chain of command before DPS got the word.

-The third time I met the Detroit Public Schools Police was at another 2013 closure. We had made one previous scouting trip and had DPS respond here to us a couple months earlier but they didn't catch us. Eventually, the scanner went quiet with dispatches to this building, indicating a defeated camera system. I had gotten thirdhand information from a friend who said it was, in fact, disabled. We decided to finally go in and shoot. After 20 or so minutes of exploring we finally found the first camera above the door inside the gym. We decided to disregard our protocol and keep exploring after standing in front of the camera for a couple minutes deciding what to do.

Not long after, DPS shows up. They opened up the side door and came inside. They had the K9 with them. His name was Tazer. We gave up immediately. One of the cops was younger and was an enthusiast of old buildings just like us. He tried to talk his partner into letting us go with a warning but it didn't work. We received EWOP citations.

So far, I've explored 59 DPS buildings with about 25 more to go. Fallowing protocol and barring anymore flukes, I should be able to see the rest without getting another ticket.


Sorry for the really long post. Once I started writing, I was on a roll!

Posted by DSomms DPS

I recently did a school in Detroit, and upon leaving, there was a DPS officer parked out front. We rolled up behind him, i snapped a quick shot from inside the car, and then we got the hell out of there. Close call, perhaps. I didn't see any cameras or motion sensors, though, so probably just coincidence.

Posted by relik I recently did a school in Detroit, and upon leaving, there was a DPS officer parked out front. We rolled up behind him, i snapped a quick shot from inside the car, and then we got the hell out of there. Close call, perhaps. I didn't see any cameras or motion sensors, though, so probably just coincidence.

DPS has actually recently given the majority of it's vacant buildings to the City of Detroit in exchange for a big chunk of their debt forgiven. What that means is, those buildings aren't the school district police problem to worry about anymore and won't be responding to alarms. Don't take my word for it, though. That is just an educated guess. I haven't had a chance since the sale to test alarms and see who, if anyone, shows up.

I had free roaming search dogs sent out to find me, once. Big ones.

I spent five hours hiding in the freezing cold in an eaves, wrapped inside of a roll of wall-to-wall carpeting to stay warm. The sound of calloused dog paws marching on the pavement was never-ending, circling the building like a shark.

And cops would occasionally pull up to see if I was there. I could hear this one guy whistling and smacking his night stick on his palm. I swear he knew I could hear him... Almost broke my knee on the way out, and spent a half hour feeling around in dirt and rotten leaves for my glasses, which landed in a god-damned tree branch.

Got caught by the Philadelphia School police who in turn called the Philadelphia PD.
Our info was taken and we were given a well meaning lecture for being in a neighborhood we did not belong in.

The School cops seemed more concerned with us being in that hood than in their building. Granted it was one of the worst hoods in the city.
The Philly PD was pretty adamant we were in there painting graffiti despite none of us being writers or having a can of paint or a drop of paint on our clothes or hands. We had cameras.

The school cops were chill once they realized we weren't scrappers and didn't mean any harm. Philly cops were a bit assholish but nonetheless we ended up walking away scott free.

This was the only time ever caught.

Now evading police and security without getting caught…thats a different story.

Got a bit more time now so I can elaborate on the times I can remember being caught.

The last time I was properly caught by security was the aforementioned (and now demolished) cement works in 2011. It was still a semi-active site used for storage and to park the trucks and machinery used by the still operational quarry nearby. As such there were numerous CCTV cameras mounted around the site and a security guard and dog on site 24/7. The only way in was by walking through a small drainage tunnel that went from the public footpath, under the fence and into the site, the grate halfway through it had been bent back just enough to enable passage into the site. We made our way in and up into one of the buildings without being seen and had a good time exploring it. However on our way out as we made our way to the ladder to take us to ground level we realised the security guard was stood at the base of the ladder with the dog. So we had zero choice in the matter but to get caught, he was perfectly alright once he saw we had cameras and let us out the site fine.

Years ago I was exploring a derelict maternity hospital, a big multi-storey ugly thing and was caught by security walking their dog through the lower floors of the building, that was quite embarrassing. One of the guys was alright but the other was a real dick trying to act all self-important.

My most memorable encounter happened about four years ago. I was exploring an abandoned military research facility and whilst entering the site we walked down a path between two buildings and set off the loudest alarm I have ever heard. Neither of us noticed the alarm and camera mounted on the outside at the time, we retreated to the back of the site into the maze of other buildings and carried on as nobody turned up and the alarm apparently had turned itself off. This site bordered an airport on one side and an access road into it ran through the middle of the site. After a couple of hours we crossed the road into the other half of the site and set about the other buildings. After fifteen minutes or so out the corner of my eye I saw a flash of movement outside a window and the next thing I knew there was a security guard stood in the corridor with me and my mate. Bearing in mind this site was next to an airport and had buildings still owned by QinetiQ (a UK defence contractor) it was a little sketchy to say the least. However once the guard saw we only had cameras and tripods etc he was the nicest security guard I have ever encountered. He explained that he had been sent from QinetiQ's headquarters after we were seen by the camera, and it was them in the security headquarters who had set the alarm off! We thought we were going to be in for a massive telling off, police, the works after being caught by the defence company security but he was lovely.

I've had a couple somewhat close calls, but likely have yet to be caught.

1st time was draining, I guess I made too much news and some people heard us through the nearest manhole, we promptly left in case they called the police.

Second time was being on top of a large grain elevator, which is in the middle of a dense neighborhood, a group of people might have seen us, we can't be certain, but it did appear that they pointed at us.

My recent experience. Nothing like some of these cautionary tails out here, but it taught me to respect alarms and sensors lol.

https://www.uer.ca...urrpage=1&pp#post6

Kind of.

Went exploring in a ghost town pretty recently. The way there involved parking at a state park, then walking a total of about 11 miles. First half was through the park trails, second half was on train tracks and through marshland, since it was out in the middle of nowhere.

Ended up getting dark on the way back, and we got back to the car late. Anyway... turns out this park closes at like 8pm. We were about an hour past that, and they'd closed the gate and locked the car in.

Had to call a number, and a ranger came and gave us crap about being out there so late, started questioning/threatening us. I told him we walked the main loop trail and didn't realize how long it was. He got quiet for a bit then just said "you did know that was a nine mile trail, right?" at which point my friend pulled out her pedometer and showed him it had about 11 miles on it for the day. And that's when he let us go... with citations. But this guy was a real hard ass over nothing, since he had no idea what we'd actually been up to.

Tiffers and I spooked a small town city game warden once.

As we were finishing our shooting of a small overgrown house, and getting ready to leave, we notice a car parked outside. We continue gathering up our gear and hope the car leaves. Instead I see a man in uniform approach the house and draw his weapon. Uniform enters gun drawn, aiming it at one of my partner's chest.
"Hands Up! Nobody move or I'll shoot!" I've never been so still. Uniform appears jumpy and I'm not about to provoke him. After a few moments of a stand off we are escorted outside, and joined by Officer Green Shirt, and the questioning begins.
No, there are no drugs on us.
Yes, we know we should not be here.
Yes, you can search our gear.
No, we are just taking pictures.
Yes, we know that is a weird hobby.
About this time Uniform (turns out to be a Game Warden) informs us that he thought one of our tripods was a shotgun and he was about to open fire. Classic Texas. As they run our licenses (clean), Officer Belt Buckle arrives. Guy looks exactly like Hank from Breaking Bad, and talks like him too: "Listen, there are people in this world. People that will hurt you. You don't know who could be in that house. Could be whites, could be blacks. Mexicans. Could even be Muslims. I don't know. Point is you need to be careful." At this point we realize they are not going to arrest us. Instead Belt Buckle gives us some tips on who to contact in another city to get permission to explore some abandonments there. Thanks Hank!
No shots fired. No arrests. No tickets. No warnings.

Nothing like staring down the barrel of a weapon, held by a lightly trained and jumpy officer.

Posted by IndoAnomaly Officer Belt Buckle arrives. Guy looks exactly like Hank from Breaking Bad, and talks like him too: "Listen, there are people in this world. People that will hurt you. You don't know who could be in that house. Could be whites, could be blacks. Mexicans. Could even be Muslims."

This is still one of the funniest things I've read on this site.

Posted by IndoAnomaly About this time Uniform (turns out to be a Game Warden) informs us that he thought one of our tripods was a shotgun and he was about to open fire.

I remember reading your story before somewhere a while ago. When Eagleye888 and I got caught, it came right to mind. The police were steady enough, but I slowly let my tripod down and kept my hands away from my bag just to be safe.

Summer '15

Me and some close friends decided to explore The Mineola Hotel in Fox Lake, IL. It was the riskiest and most exhilarating urbex trip that we had ever embarked on. We had been there before, only to explore and analyze the outside of the building in addition to the surrounding property - but this time, we were going in.
We made entry and discovered the various artifacts and relics of the hotel's better days. Once we ventured towards the other side of the building, we entered the part of the hotel that was last abandoned; it had been used as a restaurant/bar until it closed in 2012. This side was obviously much cleaner, and seemed to be used as a storage space for the owner. We found the original money vault for the hotel, random invitations to hotel events in the 90's, and a host of other interesting objects.
Our group also got the chance to explore the upstairs section of the building, which had been sealed off from the newer part for awhile. This section was by far the creepiest. The rooms looked like they hadn't been used in 50 years, and we discovered (among other things) a mirror with the word 'killer' smeared across the length of the mirror is some sort of red liquid.
Anyway, about 30 minutes into our mission, we heard someone instructing us to exit the building, and saw spotlights beaming into the interior of the building through the windows. We quickly connected the dots. We surrendered without issue and were all forced to delete all of the pictures that we had taken from our phones, and to pay a $120 trespassing fee.
If you ask me, that trip was well worth $120.

"Classic Texas. As they run our licenses (clean), Officer Belt Buckle arrives. Guy looks exactly like Hank from Breaking Bad, and talks like him too: "Listen, there are people in this world. People that will hurt you. You don't know who could be in that house. Could be whites, could be blacks. Mexicans. Could even be Muslims."

Posted by DescentOnARope This is still one of the funniest things I've read on this site.

Agreed!

Organization of business processes combines the activities of establishing their internal structure (technological, temporal, spatial, organizational), taking into account the specific conditions of the company for a particular area. The result is a plan, model, description of the processes as the basis for their implementation. Organization activities include: defining the process and organizational structure, determining resources, establishing leadership, generating process data and documents, developing information services and other aspects. What can you say about this program managemart?

Posted by IndoAnomaly Tiffers and I spooked a small town city game warden once. "Listen, there are people in this world. People that will hurt you. You don't know who could be in that house. Could be whites, could be blacks. Mexicans. Could even be Muslims. I don't know. Point is you need to be careful." At

Bah-ha-ha-ha!!! Classic

Or worse it could be a shadow walker like blackhawk

Posted by millsko Organization of business processes combines the activities of establishing their internal structure (technological, temporal, spatial, organizational), taking into account the specific conditions of the company for a particular area. The result is a plan, model, description of the processes as the basis for their implementation. Organization activities include: defining the process and organizational structure, determining resources, establishing leadership, generating process data and documents, developing information services and other aspects. What can you say about this program managemart?

STFU

"Listen, there are people in this world. People that will hurt you. You don't know who could be in that house. Could be whites, could be blacks. Mexicans. Could even be Muslims"

That just about says it all. Hope to God I never run into a house full whites!

Hey blackhawk that guy almost got shot over a tripod too!

Posted by millsko Organization of business processes combines the activities of establishing their internal structure (technological, temporal, spatial, organizational), taking into account the specific conditions of the company for a particular area. The result is a plan, model, description of the processes as the basis for their implementation. Organization activities include: defining the process and organizational structure, determining resources, establishing leadership, generating process data and documents, developing information services and other aspects. What can you say about this program managemart?

That's easy for you to say china spam.

Posted by millsko Organization of business processes combines the activities of establishing their internal structure (technological, temporal, spatial, organizational), taking into account the specific conditions of the company for a particular area. The result is a plan, model, description of the processes as the basis for their implementation. Organization activities include: defining the process and organizational structure, determining resources, establishing leadership, generating process data and documents, developing information services and other aspects. What can you say about this program managemart?

Huh, okay.

Posted by 2Xplorations "Listen, there are people in this world. People that will hurt you. You don't know who could be in that house. Could be whites, could be blacks. Mexicans. Could even be Muslims" That just about says it all. Hope to God I never run into a house full whites! Hey blackhawk that guy almost got shot over a tripod too!

People that will hurt you... could even be a dumb ass 13 yo girl that doesn't know what a rifle looks like.
"Officer, it had 3 barrels!"