I know a couple of guys that dumpster dive nearly every night. The police have pulled them over numerous times. They usually check them and their stuff then let them go. Sometimes they tell them to leave but that's all. They've never been taken in or arrested. FWIW There was a court case (supreme court?) some years ago that involved the police searching trash cans for evidence. The court ruled that stuff thrown into the trash and and placed on the public right of way (street) for pickup was publicly available and no longer private property. Of course, many commercial trash dumpsters are still located on company property so this may have no