Darwin Police Issue Warning To Pokemon GO Players

Pokemon GO is already slowly starting to take over lives, and while you are free to catch as many Pokemon as you want, maybe glance up at where you're going first.

That also pertains to Pokestops. Pokestops are hubs in the game that offer in-game rewards and items for any would-be trainer. While it isn't known if they are generated at random or are specifically picked locations, you can see them on your map represented by the blue Pokeball symbol.

One of those Pokestops is the Darwin Police Station (via Polygon). Unfortunately a combination of overeager Pokemon trainers and a game that doesn't really give you much instruction has resulted in people wandering into the police station looking for a particular Pokemon by the name of Sandshrew. The Northern Territory Police, Fire, and Emergency Service department issued a statement via their Facebook page to clear some things up.

"For those budding Pokemon Trainers out there using Pokemon Go - whilst the Darwin Police Station may feature as a Pokestop, please be advised that you don't actually have to step inside in order to gain the Pokeballs. It's also a good idea to look up, away from your phone and both ways before crossing the street. That Sandshrew isn't going anywhere fast.

Stay safe and catch 'em all!"

There are a few points of amusement in this story. First, the fact that people just wandered into the police station looking for Sandshrew without a moment's hesitation is funny enough. The second point, however, is that there's an officer at the department whose job it was to hunt down all this information and pass it along to citizens.

While the game isn't yet out in North America, you can get ahold of a beta version to play the game right now, but only on Android. No official release for the app is available at this time.