Legal advice 5th January 2002

I promote exploring the legal way by asking to explore places before exploring. However, I know a lot of explorers don't bother with this. I myself don't bother asking permission to explore some sites that are clearly abandoned.

Most explorers I have asked have concerns about 'getting caught' and problems that can occur with the police. I am not sure about the sort of situation others face, but I have found that generally security guards and police are not a problem. I am not saying that I have never encountered them, I have, but in each case I did not have a problem because I approached the situation in a respectful and cooperative way.

So, what do you do if a security guard or police officer encounters you while exploring?

Do Not

Do not run away. This really annoys police. This immediately suggests that you are doing something wrong. It also suggests that you have something to hide. Unless you are an Olympic sprinter you are not going to outrun the police. Sure, you might get away from the officer in sight but they have radios and backup and cars. The best thing to do is to stay put, or to approach the officer.

Do not get aggressive and start right off about rights and so on. Okay, you have rights, but you have responsibilities. While knowing your rights is good, they are usually most relevant if you have been arrested. If you are polite and cooperative, there is a good chance you just won't be arrested.

Do not give the police cause to have to arrest you. This means no breaking and entry. If you are going to explore something like a drain or abandoned building don't go breaking into it. Don't go wandering around with tools that could be used for this either. I have never had problems finding easy and previously used entry points into abandoned buildings. As I don't tag on buildings I don't wander around with paint or marker pens either. There's a good chance that you may be considered a vandal if you wander around with spray paint.

Do

Do be polite, do be cooperative Be proactive too. If you see a person of authority, and they have seen you, wander up to them and explain that you are curious and just looking around. Offer to show them your id, and offer to leave if they want you to.

Do leave immediately if asked. Don't argue the point. If you are unsure where the exit is, ask them how they would like you to leave.

Do show your id if asked. Don't be worried if your details are taken down. Security people are generally there to protect property. They will take your details and check the site for signs of vandalism. If they notice anything recent you may be questioned about it.

Do know your rights, but use your common sense to know when to point them out. If you have not been arrested, you don't need to point out your rights. The right time to assert your rights is when everything has gone wrong anyway.

Above all it is important to keep calm and polite. Like I said, I have never had a problem with security or police.

Cases in point

That said, I have had just two situations where I have met police or security. The first of these occurred when some mates and I were exploring the massive Burwood Brick complex. It was raining that night so, as it was unsafe to explore drains my mates and I opted for the old brickworks We parked my car, grabbed our torches and went in to explore. Unbeknownst to us two old people in the street had a habit of calling the police any time they saw anyone heading for the old brickworks. They were under the impression that we were all drug users. I myself have never used drugs and don't even drink or smoke. Apart from Urban Exploration I lead a remarkably law abiding and quiet life.

When we came out of the building we spotted two police officers, a police car and a security guard shining their torches at my car. The four of us walked straight up to them and asked what was going on. One of the police officers asked me if the car was mine.
"Yeah, you want to see my license?" I asked and pulled my wallet out of my pocket to show it. The police didn't even have to ask to see it.

"What are you doing here?" The police asked.

"We explore abandoned buildings as a hobby." I explained.

"Yeah we like to take photographs of them." A mate explained.

"See, we put them on digital camera." A third guy said as he pulled out his digicam.

The police were immediately at ease. They even stared at some of the digital pictures. The situation was defused. The police didn't even ask for the ids of my mates, well I don't think they did, it was a while back. We explained a bit about how we liked to explore stuff and how we had considered it too unsafe to explore a drain that night. The police were interested in passing. They explained about how the old people had a habit of calling the police when people turned up to explore the building. They suggested we call them whenever we approached the place in the future. I heard that eventually, after several false calls some of the police had to warn the old couple against making false reports. Most of the people visiting the site were teenagers who had set up a track to race remote control cars.

Although my details were taken down, nothing came of it. I would have been surprised had my details not been taken down. The police were logically recording my details in case it turned out anything had happened in the area that night.

Some years later I was exploring with some guys in the heart of an interstate city in the middle of the night, taking in a drain. After exiting the drain we were approached by a security guard who asked what we were doing. We were straight up.

"Exploring a drain." Several of us said.

"What do you do that for?" The guard wanted to know.

"Because it's fun."

Here we were standing around my car in a city lane changing out of our dirty cloths into clean ones with this security guard standing around. By now he was more interested than concerned. We talked a little about what was down the drain, and in other drains. The security guard mentioned a bit about what he knew about drains. We had to explain the difference about drains and sewers. The security guard did take down my license plate and remarked that I was from interstate. He was surprised to know that people traveled between states just to explore drains.

Once again nothing came out of it. We were polite and cooperative in both cases. The police and security guards were apprehensive at first, but once we had explained that we were just exploring and not doing anything like vandalism they were not worried.

When going off to explore one drain that saw regular cars dumped into it I used to drop into the police station in the area before hand to tell them I was off to take a look at the drain. I regularly used to call up if I found any abandoned cars in the drain. They didn't even bother asking what I was doing in the drain after a couple of times.

I have heard vague stories from other explorers about being arrested. This includes one guy who was caught standing on the railway tracks in a railway tunnel. A train approached to a few metres of him and blew it's horn before he noticed it. Fortunately the driver had seen him and slowed down to a crawl before he blew the horn. While I found this incredible, it seemed it was the case.

The police were called and were concerned at first about what he was doing in the tunnel. He was taken out of the tunnel to retrieve his bicycle. The police seemed amazed and a bit in awe that he had climbed up a bridge and then walked down into the tunnel. Because he was cooperative and polite he ended up receiving a fine only. This is to be expected for causing the train to be stopped and the police to be called out. I gather the guy was not happy with the fine but pleased to have got off so lightly.

Another guy who explores drains tells of how he popped a manhole directly in front of a police station. He said that he was easily able to talk his way out of the situation. He explained that he was just super cooperative and polite. The police didn't even take down his details and let him retreat back down into the drain.

The moral to all of this is to be cooperative, be polite and carry your id. People in authority are concerned about criminals who do damage to people and property. Most are generally not concerned too much about Urban Explorers who make it clear they are not doing any harm. They are even less concerned about people who are simply out taking photographs of old buildings and the like.