The Surveillance Generation...
 

Not really, FLL. You can step out of your kayak, legally stand in ankle-deep water, and pee on the property stakes. :laugh:

You wouldn’t be guilty of trespassing--much less Criminal Trespass. :rolleye1:

We didn't have this "problem" until widespread availability and installations of "surveillance" cameras. :rolleye2:

The people weren't actually guilty of criminal trespass. The property is not posted.

They showed bad judgement.

The August 29, 2022 Laconia Daily Sun has a front page report "Vandals Tip Porta-Potti into Lake Winnisquam" at Ahern State Park with a photo of the porta-potti laying sideways in about one foot of water depth, in front of the beach. .... :cool:

Apparently there was no security camera to witness the vandals in action so they could get displayed on social media? .... :eek2:

So, placing a porta-potti on the Bear Island Post Office dock may not be the best way to go? ...... :eek:

Possibly, Bear Islander could add a new BearCam view directed at a future Bear Island porta-pottie to be located on the Bear Island town dock? ..... ha-ha-ha-ho-ho-ho ..... :laugh:

....

Either way it doesn't encourage a person to work hard if they just have to give it to somebody else who doesn't care to.

John, are you saying we all need to put no trespassing signs on our property if we don't want others using it as they please? Wow!

Fences Make Good Neighbors
 

The law says you're entitled to restrict use of your land to people you want there. :look:

Signs and/or fences indicate such restrictions. Enforcement is a whole different matter. :rolleye2:

It is the way that NH works.
For it to be a violation... simple fine... they must be in a place that they do not know that they can't be. Without the signs, non-motorized users plead ignorance of that fact without postings or fences/gates.

For motorized users, we changed the laws... but even those are openly flouted.

'Good fences make good neighbors.'
 

New Hampshire born poet Robert Frost, 1874-1963 .....
'Mending Wall' ... http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...6/mending-wall ... 1914

hmmmmm ...... something to ponder

Common law in New Hampshire extends the privilege of public access to private lands that are not posted. So to answer your question, if you do not want people to trespass on your property, then YES you have to post it as such. There are rules to specifically how it has to be posted.... bright sign every 100 yards, specific lettering height, etc etc etc.

Woodsy

https://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa.../635/635-4.htm

635:4 Prescribed Manner of Posting. – A person may post his land to prohibit criminal trespass and physical activities by posting signs of durable material with any words describing the physical activity prohibited, such as "No Hunting or Trespassing", printed with block letters no less than 2 inches in height, and with the name and address of the owner or lessee of such land. Such signs shall be posted not more than 100 yards apart on all sides and shall also be posted at gates, bars and commonly used entrances. This section shall not prevent any owner from adding to the language required by this section.
Source. 1977, 284:1, eff. Aug. 21, 1977.

Until someone sees you do it, at which point it can become a much larger problem. Its a quick way to get arrested for indecent exposure or fined for public urination or defecation

I hadn't seen this one before until I looked it up.

645:1-a Public Urination or Defecation. – A person is guilty of a violation if such person urinates or defecates in a public place, other than a public restroom, under circumstances where the person knew or should have known would likely cause affront or alarm to another.

Well wouldn't it look pretty if every piece of property was plastered with No Trespassing signs. No picnics allowed on my front lawn.

Believe me... it is a major problem.
I hate the look of the posted signs... but nothing else seems to work... and those signs are always disappearing or being ignored.

I can see them on large parcels where there is no home. But if you own a house with say, an acre and need to post signs to keep people off, it is ridiculous!! Oh wait, I forgot your land belongs to the government.

I have 11 outdoor cameras but only 4 are public. I have had an isolated camera on the Bear Island Mail Dock for years.

I am confused why people are suggesting a Porta-John for the public docks at Sheps/Goodhue. There has been one there for many many years.

And those public docks and parking area are actually called "Lovejoy Landing".

People forget that this country was founded as much on property rights as it was on freedom. If you own property ITS YOUR PROPERTY! Nobody has the “right” to go onto your property uninvited….that should be common sense. If it’s a large amount of land, you should post it. But for someone to come onto your property with a home on it and walk onto your deck and actually piss on your land is the height of presumptuousness. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just wrong.

Government protection is just not extended.
It use to be that motorized users and stray dogs could also trespass... but they have now limited them... though no one really pays attention.

Actually quite the opposite.
From the time of the Mayflower Compact right-of-passage was imposed.

Ok…I admit, I’m confused…can you elaborate?

Tresspassers
 

cODEMAN, iN MY ESTIMATION YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO FEEL VIOLATED!!
tHESE PEOPLE REALLY BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE ABOVE CURRENT SOCIAL MORES AND NEED A WAKEUP CALL.

New England and NH have had the current status of open access across property since the Mayflower Compact.

''Common law in New Hampshire gives the public the right of access to land that's not posted.'' - www.wildlife.state.nh.us/landshare/faqs.html

After having land controlled by the ''Crown'', they chose to have land controlled by the ''Common''. It carried down through the MBC into NH before the division, stayed in NH after the division into a province... and tradition held to Statehood.

Finding them guilty of a violation would get them at maximum a small fine - but it takes up a lot of landowner time to take the day off and appear in court.

Is your property posted?
Are you familiar with Common Law in NH?
Here is some important property owner info;

https://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/pub...-explained.pdf

I certainly hope the public embarrassment here on the forum and hopefully on social media caused these people to ponder their choices.

The actual trespass is one thing... the urination and flaunting of it is a completely different dynamic.

Woodsy

Wow…I was woefully uninformed…thanks for the clarification.

They came forward, were extremely embarrassed and apologetic. It went out on the major Winnipesaukee facebook groups and reached tens of thousands of people. Multiple people recognized them from what I am told.

Perfect. Thank you for doing this. Their behavior was terrible, your punishment was appropriate.

What to Do...?...What to Do...?
 

I don't have ANY cameras! :eek:

How would ANYONE know of these offenses without these latest cameras? :confused:

Symptom of Our Society Today
 

Have been following this thread and am really taken back by those that offer the defense that since nothing was damaged " No Harm No Foul"

Being an island owner for over 15 years and on Winni for 69 years I have noticed a dramatic shift in the last couple of decades regarding the lack of respect towards OTHERS...from disrespect towards others personal property to disrespectful behavior shown others.

Those guilty of this only care about their immediate enjoyment at that moment (especially island renters) to the detriment of anyone in their surrounding area.
It is a right they feel justified in pursuing regardless of how it may affect others rights!

I have personally experienced several major incidents in the recent past on the island that are so egregious that I am seriously considering selling this year.

When the conflicts exceed the joy...it just doesn't make sense.

Unfortunately, the authorities that have jurisdiction in these areas are totally ineffective in changing the course of this worsening behavior. Believe me I have tried!

I applaud Codeman 671 in trying to bring some light to this appalling behavior that seems to becoming more and more pervasive in our society today.

Whenever they try they hear chants of ''Live Free or Die''.

It is what we dealt with for the change of motorized use from openly permitted to permitted with permission.

It's tough to get away with anything anymore APS, not good to forget this.

I have cameras on my property, astute people notice them right away. We were robbed about 10 years ago, the crooks maneuvered so as to not be seen. They stole a fairly new, but inexpensive tv, a tv stand, and a 20 year old obsolete dvd player. Together they were worth less than the my insurance deductible. Stupidly I called the cops, who promptly interrogated the trusted people who do things for me around the house.... never again for a small break in. I added a couple more cameras.

"How would anyone know of these offenses with out the latest cameras?"

There was a genius a while back, roaming a neighborhood, dropping a deuce on the sidewalk just about every morning. How do you think people knew about these offenses?? I'll leave that to your imagination and intellect. Finally someone fed up with with the deuce man, set up a camera and caught him on video with dropped trou, dropping one. Turns out it was a school administrator, the sidewalk deuces stopped appearing and he was dealt with.

Things like this are generally not a one off event. I'm willing to bet the people in this post regularly made stops at various properties. While it doesn't appear deuces were dropped here, urine was. Here's the thing, urine, when exposed to air for a while, decomposes and stinks. Especially if it is recurring thing in an area.

If you have an emergency, find somewhere out of the way, away from other people's homes and don't be a jerk about it. Otherwise you might find yourself on social media, acting like a fool on video.

Ok, so I googled "How to pee in a kayak" and came up with a number of videos and helpful articles ...... http://www.ericlillstrom.com/2016/09...in-your-kayak/ and then googled "How to pee on a standup paddleboard" and didn't find anything specific to paddleboards but thought this ..... www.paddleabout.com/how-to-pee-while-kayaking/ ..... was helpful.

Coming from somewhere in Gilford, if they paddled all the way from Gilford to Bear Island in Meredith though the big open Lake Winnipesaukee spaces with cold 57-degree lake water they probably just needed to take a quick break, stretch their legs a wee bit and then shove off on their return paddle back to Gilford, or somewhere.

Was it simply three kayak paddlers aged 60's and 50's who could be cold, wet and tired after a long paddle from Gilford who needed to take a pit stop before getting back into their kayaks for more paddling? Peeing while in a kayak is problematic and difficult and is so much more comfortable to get out on shore, somewhere, and stretch one's legs before continuing on with the paddle.

If it had been three black bears, a momma bear and two small young sibling bears who got comfortable within the view of the homeowner's security camera while they did their business, it would have been delightfully cute to view, but that doesn't really translate over to similar activity with three kayak paddlers or something, so's probably I should give up trying to make an analogy, here, between wild black bears and kayak paddlers who need to take a pit stop when the lake water is a chilly 57-degrees. Just like the bears, when you gotta go ....... and you know the rest of this story.

From the photos in the first post, it looks like two of the paddlers are wearing black wet suits, while the lady with the bright yellow cap is wearing blue jeans which tend to get wet and stay wet when paddling a kayak.

I hear you on all points and have experienced the same for years. It's like living in the lawless Wild West. Back in the days when people were civil to each other and had self-control, I lived in a large city center and had more peace and quiet than today on a rural street.

Getting caught
 

Getting caught before there were cameras, A Farmer's Daughter Tale

Wife: Jake, the hired hand pee'd in the snow behind the barn.
Husband: How do you know it was him?
Wife: His name was written in the snow.
Husband: That's not unusual for a young man.

Pause. Throat clearing...

Wife: 'Twere daughter's handwriting...

haha....and with a stroke of the "pen"...

Honestly here, this thread is rediculous......

Would you Honestly want to have to go to court, as the plaintiff or victim in a trespassing case, where the only damage that was done, was someone peeing on your lawn, using a lounge chair on your deck, and make some comments about how they wouldn't get caught.

This is a prime example of why our country is in the state it is in.... I would be embarrassed to be pressing charges for the given circumstances.......The Police, and Courts have much more important work to be doing....

On the flip side a little facebook shaming seems like the right avenue, to address this type of issue.

It has already been dealt with, without the Police. My intent wasn't to press charges, I wanted the people to own up to it and apologize as well as bring light to the fact that people simply shouldn't act this way. They reached out directly, apologized profusely and we have all moved on. They were extremely embarrassed by their actions looking back. I think it was the wakeup call needed.

Whether it was posted or not, it is simply not ok to treat the property of others this way. This is one example of many reasons why our country is in the state it is in...Lack of respect for others.

Anyone that says they are OK with strangers showing up and pissing in their yard has something wrong with them.

What's the difference between using your lawn chairs, or lawn as a toilet and finding an unlocked door, gaining entrance and lounging in your living room for an afternoon? Nothing damaged. Nothing missing. No harm done?

I never said I would be OK with it.... Believe me over the years I have had to deal with various circumstances that I didn't like, but in the end simply wasn't worth my time to try and get an appology, or admittance of guilt....

Every Spring I find evidence that someone has been on my property, because it sits up high and provides a nice look out over the water, and ice fishing traps once set up..... In the end as long as there is no damage to my property, and nothing left that is going to cost me to dispose of, or makes me sick to look at.... it is what it is.....

Society has to accept some amount of displeasure.... life isn't roses all the time...

PS: At the time... these intruders had NO IDEA if anyone was home... or if children could view the video from another location!

In NH... the rare possibility of being convicted of a violation with a small fine, and a reasonable possibility of a large fine with time in county jail.

Our statute doesn't differentiate between someone urinating in the bush next to your house or on one of my trees far from any building. It does differentiate between open access - where you legally could be - and enclosed structures where you may not.

The law is also very specific on damage... and the dollar amount that must be met when using the open access privilege.

Robotic, Mobile, Autonomous, AI...?
 

Member LIforrelaxin has reminded me of a certain red canoe. A couple I didn't recognize pulled in close to my heavily-wooded property. Since all persons are entitled to Lake Winnipesaukee's watery resources, I took little umbrage at the sight. They could be moving rocks looking for crayfish, for all I know (and still be "legal").

Although my view from the porch was largely blocked by my own trees, one was keeping the canoe close to shore by holding onto branches. The other couldn't be seen at all, so I suspect my property was being used for nefarious purposes by an intruder! :eek:

I may have to install a camera, and cut down my shoreline trees in order to make a case! :fire:

That is, until Amazon offers a mobile (and robotic) camera that autonomously seeks out such interlopers.

:rolleye2: