Pokemon GO App Users: Law Enforcement Urges Caution -- and Issues a Warning

Common sense, people.

That's the abridged version of Monday's Stafford County Sheriff's Office plea to users of the new Pokemon GO app.

It's all the rage -- and it also has cops throughout the country fretting about its potential dangers.

In other words, users sometimes get so caught up in playing the semi-virtual reality game that they might not notice they're about to walk into a telephone pole, onto private property or into a busy intersection. Not only that, but there also are reports of users robbing other users after luring them to a particular zone.

A super-brief tutorial: your cell phone vibrates when you're near a Pokemon zone, which the phone finds through GPS and its camera. When you find a Pokemon, you throw a ball (again, semi-virtual reality) and try to catch the Pokemon, thereby racking up your total.

Sounds like, ahem, fun, right?

But the release from the Stafford County Sheriff's Office ends with something of an ominous warning:

"While the app may tell you to follow the Pokemon, the law may not allow it."

Tips from the Sheriff's Office include:

• Know where you are when you are playing. Be respectful of other people’s property and space while using the app. Be keenly aware of private property and boundaries. Trespassing is illegal.
• Don’t get so immersed in the game you become unaware of your surroundings.
• NEVER drive and play -- or distract a driver while playing.