The “Waze” app allows users to post the location of police and speed traps.
Ethan Kyllo from Fargo, USA says: “I like it basically to get a heads up on traffic.”?Ethan Kyllo of Fargo downloaded the Waze app recently to avoid delays during his trips to the Twin Cities.?But he doesn’t just use it for traffic updates.
Kyllo: “Another useful thing I’ve seen from it is it informs me of a cop that could be sitting hiding somewhere that you might not see when you’re driving.”
It’s a feature that makes it easier to avoid speed traps that’s concerning to some law enforcement.?Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist says speeding stops can lead to other violations including drug busts and DWIs.?”There are times officers stop somebody and there’s something that’s just not right and sooner or later they are finding drugs in their vehicle.”
But Waze officials say they do more good for police than bad.?In a statement to watchdog.org, a spokesperson said the company actively exchanges road closure and dangerous road condition info with law enforcement.?Organizations like MNDOT also provide updates on the app.
Waze works like any other GPS service in that it tracks your location whenever you use the app.?Because of this, when you share the location of road closures, hazards, or police cars, other users can see where they are and how long ago you posted them.?Fifty million users in 200 countries turn to the free service for warnings about nearby congestion, car accidents, speed traps, traffic cameras, construction zones, potholes, stalled vehicles or unsafe weather conditions.
Bergquist: “We are in a technological stage, more people are going to be able to get just about everything on that phone.”?In the end, Bergquist says the police location feature isn’t all bad – in fact, it might be helpful.?Bergquist: “If they’re going to work in the morning and they have that app and oh, there’s a cop here, I’ll slow down. That’s good too.”?Waze can currently be downloaded for free in the Apple iOS,?Google Play?or Windows Phone stores.
Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who shot his girlfriend first, and then fatally killed two officers and himself, has been using the Waze app, according to Breaking911.com.?It is not clear whether the Waze app led Brinsley to the officers her fatally shot, but a screenshot shows he was using the app, which allows users to see police movements, traps, accidents and any other hazard on the road, Breaking911.com reported.?In the screenshot, Brinsley thanks a friend of his on Instagram for pointing out the app is not “updated in real time” so it’s not that “reliable,” according to Breitbart.
Law enforcement is concerned that Waze?can also be used to hunt and harm police.
Waze users mark police ? who are generally working in public spaces ? on maps without much distinction other than “visible” or “hidden.” Users see a police icon, but it’s not immediately clear whether police are there for a speed trap, a sobriety check or a lunch break.
The growing concern is the latest twist in Google’s complicated relationship with government and law enforcement. It places the Internet giant, again, at the center of an ongoing global debate about public safety, consumer rights and privacy.?Google purchased Waze for $966 million in 2013.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck complained in a letter to Google’s chief executive on Dec. 30 that Waze could be “misused by those with criminal intent to endanger police officers and the community.”
There are no known connections between any attack on police and Waze, although Beck said Waze was used in the killing of two New York Police Department officers on Dec. 20. The Instagram account of the gunman in that case included a screenshot from Waze along with other messages threatening police.
Investigators do not believe the shooter, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, used Waze to ambush the NYPD officers, in part because police say Brinsley tossed his cellphone more than two miles from where he shot the officers. In his letter to Google, Beck said that Brinsley had been using the Waze app to track police since early December.
“I am confident your company did not intend the Waze app to be a means to allow those who wish to commit crimes to use the unwitting Waze community as their lookouts for the location of police officers,” Beck wrote.
Some officers, like Sheriff Mike Brown of Bedford County, Virginia, think it’s only a matter of time before Waze is used to hunt and harm police.
“The police community needs to coordinate an effort to have the owner, Google, act like the responsible corporate citizen they have always been and remove this feature from the application even before any litigation or statutory action,” said Brown, who raised the issue at a National Sheriffs’ Association meeting in Washington January 23.
Google declined to comment and directed questions to a Waze spokeswoman, Julie Mossler, who said the company thinks deeply about safety and security. She said Waze works with the New York Police Department and others around the world by sharing information.
“These relationships keep citizens safe, promote faster emergency response and help alleviate traffic congestion,” Mossler said.
The NYPD did not respond to questions about Waze.
Sources: WDay, HNGN, ABCNews, Waze