There’s no doubt that Pokémon Go is one of the most popular and best-augmented reality games available on mobile devices. The game encourages players to venture out and discover new locations to catch them all! However, going outside, especially in areas which players may be unfamiliar with, can sometimes lead to confusion. For one trainer, their daily walks with their girlfriend became a source of suspicious activity for their neighbors, which ended up with state police at their home to investigate.
Pokémon Go Player Questioned by State Police
In a Reddit post titled “State Police Called,” user Kmaxx1288 recounted the moment when the police appeared at their home to investigate in full detail. The user said that when they were at their home with their roommate and their girlfriend, the police knocked on their door and requested to speak to their girlfriend. When the user asked what was wrong, the officer said they got a call about a “couple walking in the neighborhood taking pictures with their phones.”
Hearing this made the user and their roommate burst out laughing. They explained to the officer that all of them play Pokémon Go and that, in the game, players must move their phones around all the time to complete certain tasks. Doing this makes it seem like they’re recording or taking pictures of their surrounding areas. According to the user, the officer was pretty “chill” and asked them to tell the girlfriend why they wanted to question her.
As the thread gained more upvotes, many Pokémon Go players shared their experiences of facing police while playing the game.
One trainer said, “over this past summer, a group of all my friends (20’s) walked around while it was dark, but maybe only 8pm. Did a raid together sitting crisscross applesauce in a church parking lot. pretty quiet, not disruptive, just doing our tippy taps to beat the raid. We get up to walk away, and a cop rolls up on us and says he got a call for people being suspicious (?) on private property. all of us at once flip our phones around and say, “pokemon go”
he said, “that game still exists?” and laughed for a sec. then we all went on our merry way.”
Another trained added, “Started playing PoGo in December and I’ve been “pulled over” legit 5 times. I play late at night in my car so I totally get why they are checking on a fancy car, chilling in random parking lots around our town. Lol
One cop told me I was “In his spot” as I was parked behind a sign. We both definitely shared a laugh.”