# Besides urban exploration, why do people trespass?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-urban-exploration-why-do-people-trespass/500723
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 23, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-urban-exploration-why-do-people-trespass/500723 "2009-06-23T15:20:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-urban-exploration-why-do-people-trespass/500723/41 "2009-06-30T19:41:07Z")
I find it hard to believe that anyone has never trespassed at one time or another. Sometimes you don’t know it is private property and other times you just want to see something cool. I have no problem with landowners kicking you off of their property or even calling the police if you refuse but, if you are truly not hurting anyone and you intended to be unseen the whole time (I am talking about very large properties. I never want people hanging out near my house), their isn’t much of a problem from a practical standpoint. I have had police problems before because I was just sitting there looking at a stream in the middle of nowhere and wasn’t doing anything wrong. It was always a busy-body older female that didn’t own the land that called the police and, of course, nothing ever came of it. I just wanted to sit and read and think without bothering anyone. Instead, I got checked for alcohol consumption and drug track marks (which I didn’t have and will never have). If it was the landowner that asked me to leave, I would have no problem with that.
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### Author:  [@MetroGnome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MetroGnome)
#### Post date: [June 30, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-urban-exploration-why-do-people-trespass/500723/42 "2009-06-30T20:50:46Z")
Because that ledge would be so sweet to grind on. Have you ever seen a skate video? That’s a small industry rooted in trespassing.
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### Author:  [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-urban-exploration-why-do-people-trespass/500723/43 "2009-07-01T01:32:46Z")
A lot of my friends from high school got trespassing tickets for drinking at parks or beaches in the middle of the night.
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### Author:  [@Bisected8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bisected8)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-urban-exploration-why-do-people-trespass/500723/44 "2009-07-01T13:03:21Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#):
>
> Calling at one’s front door isn’t trespassing by itself. You could include:
>
> 1. A stranger knocking on your dooor to tell you your house is on fire.
> 2. People visiting from out of town.
> 3. Someone lost and asking directions.
> 4. Someone who has been robbed or attacked and is calling for help.
> It would seem to me that anyone who opposes such people’s right to come to the door is little better than a lazy lout. (I once read about people hired by the city of Torrance, CA, to knock on doors to get census information, who were assaulted. Your home may be your castle but that does not confer on you belligerence with impunity!)
So you think people who put up signs saying “no solicitors” are “lazy louts”? People have a right to privacy. Just because somone has the right to tell someone else to bugger off doesn’t mean they can’t hear them out and help them if it’s an emergency.
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### Author:  [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-urban-exploration-why-do-people-trespass/500723/45 "2009-07-01T13:59:12Z")
Here, “no solicitors” would translate as “no lawyers” :dubious:
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### Author:  [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/besides-urban-exploration-why-do-people-trespass/500723/46 "2009-07-01T22:29:36Z")
> [@Bisected8](#):
>
> So you think people who put up signs saying “no solicitors” are “lazy louts”? People have a right to privacy. Just because somone has the right to tell someone else to bugger off doesn’t mean they can’t hear them out and help them if it’s an emergency.
I agree with the second half of your statement. What I don’t agree with is the notion some people have that a person approaching your door is automatically an enemy or just someone bothering you like a boil on your but. In fact, the two halves of your statement are mutually exclusive.
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