Los Banos Cemetery bans ‘Pokémon Go,’ requests developer to remove in-game stops

“Pokémon Go” players have been banned from the Los Banos Cemetery after cemetery district officials said some nighttime players had been disrespectful.

Cemetery officials also have requested the game developer remove in-game “Pokéstops” and a Pokémon “Gym” located in the cemetery, cemetery Manager Linda Brown said.

“It’s gotten to be too much,” Brown said Friday. She said that, despite requests to stay away from the cemetery at night to respect the families of those buried there, “Pokémon Go” players have been disruptive.

Some players who are a part of the “Los Banos Pokémon Go” Facebook group are denying those claims.

Brown said that, during the day, cemetery officials will be asking people playing the game to leave. At night, the Merced County Sheriff’s Office will be sending increased patrols.

“Pokémon Go” is an augmented reality smartphone app based on the Nintendo video game and TV series. In the game, people try to catch virtual creatures on their phones based on real-life locations in real time.

The cemetery has been noted in the Facebook group as one of the best places in town to catch Pokémon.

The cemetery has several Pokéstops and a Pokémon Gym nearby. That makes it an attractive destination for players when some post Pokémon “Lure Modules” to the Pokéstops.

Brown said she requested the Pokémon be removed earlier this week.

Brown said she was concerned that more complaints would come in about players being disrespectful at night. “I could kind of see what was coming down the pipes,” she said.

The Los Banos Cemetery District board held a meeting Monday and discussed the issue, Brown said.

At the meeting, the board was in favor of restricting “Pokémon Go” at the cemetery despite assurances from Jeremiah Clark, a representative of the Facebook group, that players would be respectful and had only positive intentions when they organized an effort to raise funds for the cemetery.

Cemetery board chairman Duane Brehm couldn’t be reached for comment Friday. Clark declined to comment Friday.

A week ago, Brown told The Enterprise that she had seen “Pokémon Go” players being respectful at the cemetery, staying on the paths and off the graves.

This week, however, Brown said players had been observed at night crowding the small one-way paths, at times parking over graves on the grass and honking at each other.

The cemetery also has received complaints and calls about the “Pokémon Go” players, Brown said. Those complaints last week led to the suspension of an online fundraising effort for the cemetery by Clark.

Los Banos resident Shiloh Basch, who has gone to the cemetery a few times a week at night for 30 minutes to an hour at a time, said players have been nothing but respectful, especially at night.

“I’ve seen people pull in, never parking on graves and just parking on the pavement,” Basch said, adding that it’s usually one group of players who are there each time she has gone.

Basch said there was an issue with one person pulling up on a grave when the game first started weeks ago, but “that issue was squashed really quick and players have since been actively avoiding that as it would ruin it for other players.”

This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Los Banos Cemetery bans ‘Pokémon Go,’ requests developer to remove in-game stops."