UPDATE: Rocky Mount has changed their mind about removing Pokemon Go locations at parks and city properties. After a review of parks and facilities, the city decided not to remove Pokemon Go sites, unless there’s a specific hazard at the park.
If you recognize that theme, you may be among the 75 million people playing Pokemon Go. The wildly popular app has young and old alike wandering around, phone in hand, searching for Pikachu, Charmander, and Squirtle. In an effort to cover this new craze, I set off to find poke players and had no trouble at all.
Wednesday evening, about a half dozen Pokémon Go players gathered on the corner of Fifth and Evans Streets in downtown Greenville. It’s an area known to have an abundance of Pokemon. Some are camped out in shade near the Umbrella Market, others like Phillip Madden, from Pinetops are just passing though hoping to catch a Pokemon.
“This is pretty much the hotspot right here off Fifth Street. As I can see, there’s a lot of people out congregating across the street for that little festival over there but then there’s also a lot of people walking through here for the game itself due to the hot spots.”
Madden, who was out for a jog has been using the app for entertainment and to get some exercise.
“In the game you get these eggs, which you can hatch into more Pokémon. And they’re based off of kilometers. So, 2Ks, 5Ks, and 10Ks. Basically, the higher the number, the rarer the Pokémon. Not always the case, but so far, I’ve lost a few pounds doing this game just walking around. I’ve already gone over 120 kilometers.”
Despite the intense heat, people are out and moving about in the downtown area.
“Well, I’m going for a run and trying to catch some Pokemon at the same time.”
For some, Pokemon Go is about competition, for others it’s social. For Carter Dodson, it’s nostalgic.
“Like I used to play Pokemon back in the day, didn’t really think about it for about 10 or 15 years and all of a sudden this game came back out and it brought back a lot of memories.”
The free app uses GPS technology and your devices camera and then it’s up to you to “catch em’ all.” When you’re close enough…
“It’ll pop up on your screen, and you have to click on it and then you kind of use your pokeball and you just like swipe up and try to catch it.”
It sounds harmless enough. But Pokemon Go is causing issues here in eastern North Carolina.
On July 19th, Greenville Police responded to an assault in the downtown area around midnight. 47-year-old Harry Ford of Burlington approached numerous people playing Pokémon Go. According to a news release, he reportedly initiated a physical confrontation before pulling out a knife and stabbing 19 year old Dillion Manning. Manning was transported to Vidant Medical Center and later released. Ford was charged with one count Assault with a Deadly Weapon, and two counts of simple assault. Public Information Officer with Greenville Police Kristen Hunter said in an email that there doesn't appear to be any correlation between the game and the stabbing.
Perhaps, the incident just drives home the wisdom that nothing good happens after midnight.
“The first weekend that Pokemon Go came out, between the hours of probably 10 pm and 5 am, we had over 200 people show up.”
That’s Security Chief at Coastal Carolina Community College in Jacksonville Jared Pokora.
“I’ve seen all types of people, people with their sons and daughters out here, I’ve seen couples out here on date night.”
The campus on Western Blvd. is a popular spot for catching Pokémon because of the many PokeStops. These are real world landmarks, such as monuments, statues or historical markers where Pokemon players can collect eggs, pokeballs and other items. Pokora says game play is allowed on campus during normal operating hours, though it’s not encouraged. He says it’s when people are showing up that’s a problem.
“I actually came in between the hours of 11p.m. and 1a.m. and spoke face to face with about 45 to 50 people. And I do want to say that everybody I have spoken to and met, they’ve all been very respectful, they’ve done what we requested them to do which is to leave as soon as possible.”
Word is getting out. Now, only about 15 to 20 people show up each night. A similar scenario is taking place at Craven Community College in New Bern.
“They come out 2, 3 or sometimes 4 o’clock in the morning and there’s usually 2, 3, or 4 folks together as a little group.”
I met Campus Security Officer Shawn Parker at one of the more popular PokeStops at CCC on Thursday afternoon. He says safety is a concern at night when the campus is closed.
“We’ve had several folks come out here but nowhere near a couple hundred. So far, I don’t know if people hadn’t realized it yet but campus has a bunch of PokeStops and I guess a couple of the fighting arenas, but we haven’t had a large number of people coming out here yet.”
Parker says people are welcome to hunt for Pokémon during daytime hours. CCC hasn’t had any incidents so far, but security is urging players to pay attention to their surroundings when they are on the prowl for poke-characters.
With the sudden widespread popularity of Pokemon Go, local municipalities are growing concerned about the safety of players in eastern North Carolina. On Wednesday, Rocky Mount issued a statement saying that they are requesting the removal of all city-owned addresses from the game. While there haven’t been any incidents, officials want to take preventative measures to ensure the public’s safety. Public Affairs Manager Tameka Norman.
“We have has a few situations where we’ve had individuals at our fire station trying to get in to get Pokemon, at our waste water treatment plan as well as our electrical substation. So we first and foremost wanted to ensure citizen’s safety.”
Due to public outcry, Norman says Rocky Mount is reconsidering letting people play the game at parks.
“We are going to evaluate the areas which are going to be off limits for parks. We do want to make sure that the public is aware of park hours, we are going to look into that more closely.”
About 134 city addresses are on the requested removal list.
In New Bern, one of the most popular places to play Pokemon Go is at Union Point Park. Rachel, who didn’t want to use her last name is from Vanceboro. She got off work on Wednesday afternoon and met her friends to look for Pokemon.
“Yeah, I’ve caught a Machoke down here, and there was a couple of other things down here too that were big. But we come down here pretty much like every day and we have a group of like nine or 10 people that we play with.”
It’s 98 degrees at Union Point Park. But when it cools off in the evening, Rachel tells me it’s not unusual to see a couple hundred people out here looking for Pokémon.
“I knew that people were meeting each other and stuff like that so it’s good that all these people are getting out and walking around and not staying inside. Yeah, we’re on our phones and everything but at least we’re outside we’re exercising.”
Ian Robertson chimes in.
“The only reason I’m out here, I don’t even play it. I just come here to watch them play it and be outside and have a good time. Yeah, we’re an outside squad, that’s pretty much what we do. We’re an outside squad.”
Pokemon Go players were up in arms this week when the City of New Bern cut off electricity to the gazebo at Union Point Park. Players were using electrical outlets to charge their phones since the app is notorious for draining cell phone batteries. Some gamers feel the City is trying to prevent them from playing.
“I mean, people are out here trying to use the park. They shouldn’t turn off the power. Yeah, that’s what the park is here for, to come out here and enjoy themselves. Me, personally, it’s not like they’re out here doing drugs or anything. They’re playing Pokémon, they’re not sitting at the house. I think it’s ridiculous. So now I need to charge my phone.”
New Bern Parks and Recreation Director Thurman Hardison says there’s a misunderstanding that power was turned off to deter Pokémon Go players.
“That’s the furthest thing from the truth. We practice utility management pretty much most of the year, especially the outdoor utilities in our pavilions, in our shelters, our gazebos.”
Hardison says the electricity is turned off in the early part of the week to conserve power. Usually by Thursday afternoon, it’s back on for the weekend when the gazebo receives the most use.
“Again, a big misunderstanding about that, that was a timing thing. I’ve told my staff that if any of the gamers are out at Union Point Park or any other facility on a Friday afternoon, Saturday, as long as they are not in conflict with a reservation with someone who is having an affair at one of the pavilions, and there’s power in the pavilions, they’re welcome to it.”
Now that the gazebo is getting more use from Pokemon Go players, I asked Hardison if he would consider leaving the power on for the whole week.
“Um, that’s a possibility, that’s a distinct possibility.”
However, I get the feeling he’s more open to talking about coordinating special activities or events for poke players at Union Point Park and making those amenities available then.
If New Bern is considering holding a Pokemon event, they could take notes from the Farmville Police Department. On Sunday afternoon, they had their first ever Po-Po Pokémon event on the Town Common and baseball fields. Chief of Police Donnie Greene says about 40 to 50 people came out to the event.
“Of course, it was 100 degrees outside so we got some water together, and some popsicles together, and everybody met. I’m going to use Pokémon terms and I don’t even know if I’m using them right, but people were setting out lures to try to attract Pokémon.”
Greene says the idea came about because several of their officers are playing the game. In addition to bringing the community together, he believes the event has improved stereotypes about police officers.
"I think a lot of times police officers are looked at as this hardnosed, matter of fact, stiff person. And we’re not. We’re human beings just like everyone else. And we like to do some of the same things that everybody else did. And that’s exactly what it did. There were a lot for people shocked that there were police officers playing Pokémon but we do. Well, they do, I don’t. Not yet. That’s right, and it’s funny Jared because our IT guy, ‘I’m never doing it, I’m never doing it, and now he’s doing it. Now, I’m getting sucked into that Pokémon craze.”
And Greene is not alone. Whether it’s nostalgia or curiosity, more and more people regardless of age, race, or occupation are getting into the game.
