A city police union is threatening legal action unless Google shuts down an app feature that lets users track the locations of police officers.
Google’s Waze app works like a GPS. In addition of warning about police locations, it can also alert other users about parked police vehicles, traffic cameras and accidents.
But the president of the Sergeant’s Benevolent Association believes the app puts the safety of officers at risk.
In a letter to Google, Ed Mullins wrote, “The simple convenience to WAZE users in avoiding traffic tickets pales in comparison to the risk of assassination or major crime, no matter how tenuous that risk might seem in any given situation.”
Mullins tells the Daily News that the man who shot and killed Detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in December had the app on his phone.
(Source: NY1)
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10 Responses
Baloney. We know good and well why they aren’t happy about that feature. A noticeable police car is no more vulnerable by being on a map.
Anyone trying to get a random cop can do so by taking a walk or a drive.
Knowing the police are in the near distance people tend to slow down which helps with saving lives. The traffic cops once upon a time where there to be an ounce of prevention, now we are taking away from their livelihood?
Slowing down saves gas, so far i see two plusses and zero negatives. There are many more positive that outweigh the negative hands down.How might i ask are the police being put at risk? anyone…
the fellow had the app on his phone? So what?
This has nothing to do with the assassination of officers Liu and Ramos. Anyone who is sick enough to murder an officer that was sitting in their patrol car doesn’t need Waze to find a cop- they could call 911 and have the cops come to them. This is plain and simple an attack on another tool that people use to “outsmart” police. This lawsuit and its verdict wouldn’t change anything, another app will just form in its place. What if they changed it to a “visible” or “hidden” hazard, would that satisfy the police union? What about the guy that was charged with abstruction of justice for “high beaming” incoming traffic and the judge dismissed the charge under the first amendment? They’ll never win this case, because there isn’t enough proof to “prove” that Waze is an actual threat to the police force’s safety.
that is absurd. all you have to do is drive around a little and you’ll see a cop car pretty quickly. how does this app help a criminal assasinate ine? it’s absurd.
it doesn’t give you the name of the officer. it just shows you that there is a cop car approximately. poses absolutely no danger to police.
and there’s so many good traffic Nav apps. I will use someone else if they stop the cop thing.
This is BULL!!!
Waze doesn’t track officers!! The drivers report where the police are hiding. To claim that Waze tracks the police is a LIE and I would be willing to testify ON BEHALF of Waze!
The jerk had Waze?! Woopie dupy dooo! So do millions of others who DONT kill cops!
LIBERALISM IS A MAJOR DISEASE!
The Police union is absolutely correct. How can the police officers meet their ticket quota if people know where they hide?
Slowing down saves gas, until you accelerate again. You burn more gas slowing down then accelerating than you do cruising at a set speed.
Personally, I ignore the police and other hazzard warnings and use only the navigation piece, the rest is all screen clutter for me. That said, I thing the seargants union is way off base on this one.
best thing about waze…
People are talking about how this gets drivers to slow down in advance and therefore creates a higher level of safety. I say focus on that point, but add to this that it creates this caution often long after the officer has already left! More than half the time, I do not find an officer where the app says he was. Yet I slow down a half mile before every time. In general it gives a more tangible sense of the presence of officers on the road which promotes driving caution. Waze MUST be saving lives.