Posted by Skye_Ann "You're under arrest for trespassing", literally so jokes... Trespassing isn't an indictable offense. Most they can do is ban you from the property and give you a ticket. I've been caught by police twice. Once I was arrested for B&E, later let go and the charges dropped due to "lack of evidence", and the second time the cops were really nice and just told us to be careful (then escorted us off the property).

In the US the charge and penalties vary. Federal trespassing charges are the most serious and severe.
State trespassing laws here are complex.
In NJ I was initially charged with felony trespass and loitering, serious charges.
After everyone calmed down it was dropped down to municipal trespass and loitering, a misdemeanor.
For whatever reason it does not appear on my record or so I learned after 10 years.

Exploring and life are much easier if you don't get arrested...

Posted by blackhawk In the US the charge and penalties vary. Federal trespassing charges are the most serious and severe. State trespassing laws here are complex. In NJ I was initially charged with felony trespass and loitering, serious charges. After everyone calmed down it was dropped down to municipal trespass and loitering, a misdemeanor. For whatever reason it does not appear on my record or so I learned after 10 years. Exploring and life are much easier if you don't get arrested...

In Texas there is no felony trespass charge, but you can definitely be arrested for a Class A or B Misdemeanor criminal trespass charge. Most commonly, one would be charged with a Class C trespass, which is a citation (municipal). Even though a simple trespass cannot become a felony, it's not hard for law enforcement to trump up the charges by simply adding another one on top of the trespassing. This may or may not be justified, obviously it depends on the cops and the situation.

Posted by Dee Ashley In Texas there is no felony trespass charge, but you can definitely be arrested for a Class A or B Misdemeanor criminal trespass charge. Most commonly, one would be charged with a Class C trespass, which is a citation (municipal). Even though a simple trespass cannot become a felony, it's not hard for law enforcement to trump up the charges by simply adding another one on top of the trespassing. This may or may not be justified, obviously it depends on the cops and the situation.

Texas penal code is similar to Ohio's.
More confusing than PA's or NJ's.
In the end the results are about the same, I guess.
You're right, the DA can shake & bake a misdemeanor into a felony in TX and cook you like a pork chop in a jiffy if they want to.

Let's not have pork chops for dinner...

Posted by blackhawk Texas penal code is similar to Ohio's. More confusing than PA's or NJ's. In the end the results are about the same, I guess. You're right, the DA can shake & bake a misdemeanor into a felony in TX and cook you like a pork chop in a jiffy if they want to. Let's not have pork chops for dinner...

Oh, Blackhawk. Your written delivery is always a delight.

I suggest to any of you's out there exploring to perhaps try to keep your sneak in's a little further than a block a way from a police station/courthouse. Hahah. I was actually recently arrested exploring an old abandoned hotel slated for demolition soon, like a month ago; literally a crosswalk away from the city courthouse. It was really not enjoyable getting arrested and my stuff confiscated temporarily. I would really recommend to any of you's that partake in exploration to not get arrested. LOL. Just don't. I did my best to be friendly to the police officers. But they still due to the fact recently protests were going on they dragged my booty in for an interview and made my life a tad bit more stressful than it already was for a month. Luckily THANK GOD, they dropped all charges. They slapped morning after I got out of pre-jail under my mug shot felony C Burglary Class 2. INSANE. For simply sneaking inside to an old beat to shit already gutted hotel to take pictures. I'll be honest here just for sake of trueness and this post in years being archived. I had a couple markers on me too. Like for on occasion scribbling a silly exploring nick name. LOL.

Another suggestion for you sisters and brothers is when you exit a place, make sure to if there is an option to exit not blind do so! I exited via a steel gate blind, and was greeted by like four Police SUV's and like within three minutes had like ten police officers surrounding me. They suspected that since I exited a basement in such near approximate to the jail, courthouse I was possibly up to like muslim extremist sh*t. Luckily they I think realized with in like ten minutes of listening to me ramble on about more information than they could have asked for, about what I was doing my life, and why I was there... They realized I am just a dork.

And a third mistake. When entering a place and people are yelling at you. "what the fuck are you doing?" probably in your best interest to either turn around, or quickly explain to them what you are doing. Literally while exploring stupidly I neglected to turn around and leave despite hearing homeless people outside f*cked probably drunk and on other substances yelling and discussing as loudly as possible about the crazy scene they just encountered of some dork lifting a steel gate on the sidewalk and then climbing down underneath the sidewalk and beneath them.


Well from this point on I can only be more careful and hope I learned from my mistakes . Also learning from others mistakes is really nice too. Yes again I got no charges pressed, slammed with the mallet by a judge. DE just luckily saw it through and decided to put his time and resources towards other cases that are more of a threat to citizens safety.

Also what I take from the experience is to slow down. I was on a exploring marathon prior to the night, and literally felt doomed. Like I had a feeling that I was bound to get capped any day, any night. And actually I am happy that I did. Because now I can slow down, and am off of the reckless marathon.

I hope too that I can get that arrest record some how off of my record. Like even though I wasn't prosecuted, I still was ARRESTED! ...lol I'll keep my mug shot private and not show that to you guys publicly. But when I am a full member perhaps I can go into further depth and share with you's my social security, name, and personal information you's are dying to know. ---Just Kidding---

SO Don't make the mistakes I made (.)

I live extremely close to the church off the 403. Police frequently group there to chat and do their stuff - unlucky but no way you could know. There is also a priest and staff that live on the church grounds 24/7. Getting stopped by the cops can be super intimidating but as others have said the best course of action is to be as authentically respectful and honest as you can be. Most cops are realistic people and can empathize despite appearing cold. As long as your cops not having a bad day, presenting yourself as respectable enough can go a huge way.


I have had 5 - 10 interactions ever with police because i was doing sketchy stuff and for the majority of them i was able to get the ticket reduced or dropped completely. I talked my away out of being caught with a sizeable amount of weed by bonding with the officer over the history of Brampton, where we were both from.