The Police Line: Leaving Every Site Better (Outdoor Code)

Before the last car pulls out, many troops and packs do the same thing at the end of every campout, service project, and outdoor event: they form a police line. Everyone, Scouts and adults alike, lines up shoulder to shoulder and walks the entire site one last time, eyes on the ground, picking up anything that doesn't belong.

It takes ten minutes. It's one of the most visible ways a unit lives out "leave it better than you found it." And done every time, it becomes a habit Scouts carry for the rest of their lives.

When to Do It

• At the end of every campout, after tents are down and gear is packed, but before anyone leaves.
• After service projects, so the site looks better than the project alone made it.
• After day events and meetings outdoors, such as picnics, hikes, park outings, and pack events.
• At summer camp, on the last morning, before the campsite inspection.

How to Form the Line

• Everyone participates. Scouts and adults, every patrol. When adults walk the line too, Scouts see that it matters.
• Start at one edge of the site. Line up side by side, about an arm's length to a few feet apart, depending on how cluttered the ground is.
• Walk slowly, eyes down. This isn't a race. Move at the pace of the slowest searcher so nothing gets skipped.
• Cover the whole site in one direction, then turn around, shift over a step, and walk it back. Two passes catch what one misses.
• Spread the trash bags along the line so nobody has to walk far to drop something in.

What Counts

Anything that wasn't there before people arrived, whether your group left it or not:

• Micro-trash: twist ties, bread-bag clips, the torn corners of oatmeal and drink-mix packets, foil scraps, candy wrappers, bottle caps, and cigarette butts.
• Food scraps: orange peels, sunflower and pistachio shells, spilled rice, and marshmallows in the fire ring.
• Camp debris: tent stakes, guy-line scraps, string and zip ties on trees, clothespins, and pieces of tarp.
• Lost gear: socks, water bottles, utensils, and that one flashlight. Put found gear in a separate "lost and found" bag.

The Spots People Miss

• The parking area and the path from the cars to the site.
• The fire ring: foil, food, and anything that didn't burn. Only once the fire is cold out.
• The latrine path and the area behind the tents.
• The dining area and under the picnic tables.
• Tent pads: look for stakes and trash, then brush the area back to natural.
• Low branches and bushes, where string, flagging, and clothesline get left behind.

Safety Notes

• Wear gloves if you have them, and don't let Scouts pick up broken glass, needles, or anything sharp with bare hands. Have an adult handle those.
• Never reach into a fire ring until the fire is completely cold out.
• Stay out of poison ivy and thorns. Some trash isn't worth a rash.

Closing the Line

When the last pass is done, gather everyone in a circle and take one look around. Ask the question that's at the heart of the whole thing: "Would the next group to camp here thank us?" If the answer is yes, you're done. If not, you know where to look.

Some units make it a tradition to leave the site so clean that nobody could tell a troop had been there at all. Others go a step further and fill an extra bag with trash that was there before they arrived. Either way, the police line is how a unit says goodbye to a place: by leaving it better than it found it.