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Well, UK newspaper the Telegraph is reporting that some British teens have found a clever way to cool off during this sweltering season with a little help from Google Earth and Facebook.
The kids are using the accurate imagery on Google Earth to find out where private swimming pools are located and then inviting friends (and anyone else they've linked to) via social networking sites like Facebook and Bebo to join them at clandestine pool parties, often picking late night hours or waiting until homeowners leave for work during the day to trespass and go for a swim. It's called Facebook 'dipping.'
Police are getting reports of people returning to their homes at the end of the day to find their pools and back yards full of beer cans and other evidence of these impromptu parties. Others are being awakened late at night by partying kids, who advise each other on Facebook to bring their bicycles so they can make a quick getaway if caught.
So far we haven't seen reports of this happening stateside – but Web access, rising temperatures and a little ingenuity seems to promise incidents soon. (Who knows? By writing about it are we giving kids bad ideas? For the record, we're firmly against trespassing and other tomfoolery.)
The British police are advising homeowners to be aware of the problem – but they haven't exactly spelled out what people should do, short of draining the water from their pools. [Source: The Daily Telegraph.]
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Comments
129
Subscribe to commentstotallyJun 24th 2008 11:49PM
"...but they haven't exactly spelled out what people should do, short of draining the water from their pools."
erm...a dog?
TigreJun 25th 2008 1:16AM
Someone would get shot if they were to do this here in the states. It's just a matter of time b4 it goes from "just using the pool" to breaking into people houses. Whether it's to use to restroom or create mayhem. Just watch ;)
Little MissJun 27th 2008 10:23PM
You know, not all kids are bad. Even ones doing something like this probably aren't going to break into someone's house.
TigreJun 28th 2008 1:41AM
Your right not all kids are bad but you have to think about mob mentality. You have a group and some members in the group start to create mayhem guess what's going to happen????... the others will join in. By themselves they most likely will never commit the crime but the need to fit in and pressure from others (whether it's verbal or in the person's head) will make the individual join in.
langxJun 25th 2008 4:45AM
Tigre:: I agree completely.
You probably won't see it stateside because one of those kids would get shot in America.
tweetymomJun 26th 2008 4:43AM
Mount an IP camera with a motion sensor to monitor your pool. Panasonic makes one for around $300, and it works with a wireless router and can tilt and pan via remote controls on a smart phone. Tie the motion sensor into your your alarm system to alert your cell phone and then you can check it out using the camera link and call the police if needed. The alarm company I use won't call police directly for outdoor motion sensors because of frequency of false alarms.
karmellkreemJun 26th 2008 8:48AM
It's happened plenty of times stateside - my friends and I used to do it. But we weren't stupid enough to leave the evidence, or post it online and tell everybody. What a bunch of idiots.
BBBJun 26th 2008 6:06PM
I was thinking the same thing, only it was in the 60's and 70's when we did it. We would even climb the fence of the public pools after midnight. You just had to know when to stay still, and be quiet.
Again, never left evidence.
Needless to say, when my kids were teens I checked 3 or 4 times a night to make sure they were where they were suppose to be.
Barbara ThompsonJun 26th 2008 6:12PM
When I was a kid growing up on the beaches...summer time meant one thing...POOL HOPPING !!! We would hit all the motel hotel pools all along the strip on St.Pete Beach !! We had a blast !! I'm 51 now and those are some my favorite memories of my youth.
mesege646Jun 26th 2008 10:25AM
wow,
such a good idea. I'm deff gonna have to try that.
thanks.
meJun 26th 2008 2:07PM
We started doing this 35 years ago in New Jersey (US).
We called it "Pool Hopping".
Nothing new here, it's been going on for decades.
We didn't need Google Earth to find a pool either, we knew our neighborhood because we didn't spend 5 hours a day on a computer.
We were busy finding escape routes from the police.
undrgrndgirlJun 26th 2008 2:12PM
...as soon as a homeowner DOES drain his/her pool and some half-in-the-bag facebooker jumps in without noticing the pool is EMPTY it will be the HOMEOWNER's fault...
kimJun 26th 2008 3:22PM
Either that or kids will just start bring their skateboards and skating the pools like they did back in they day.
BrerRabitJun 26th 2008 3:47PM
lol as soon as everyone staarts draining their pools, all the skaters, myself included are just gonna start skating the hell out of all of them. its lords of dogtown Z-boys all over again.
RILEYXRSMOMJun 26th 2008 4:03PM
Once your pool is drained then it because a skater party. Trust me.
KenzieJun 26th 2008 5:04PM
I don't see how. It's their pool, and kids are trespassing. It's entirely the child's fault for trespassing and then stupidly jumping into an empty pool.
SusanJun 28th 2008 1:53AM
The homeowner drains the pool and some idiot jumps in it will NOT be the homeowners fault because the pool hopper was trespassing...........You trespass onto someones property the property owner is not at fault with what happens to the idiot that trespassed. It is the trespassers fault for being where they didn't belong.
BuckwheatJun 26th 2008 2:15PM
Thats a good way to get shot today !
LindaJun 26th 2008 2:18PM
Being a pool owner in the USA this does not concern me as I know what I would do being a dog owner who does not like trepassers, smiles. My two JRT will not let them out until the police arrive, homeowners have rights, first NO TRESPASSING signs then lets see what happens, Linda
TenJun 26th 2008 6:13PM
Jack Russels? Ooh, I'd be scared of a couple of little yappers like that. Please.