Posted on 02/07/2019 6:36:37 AM PST by fremont_steve
The NYPD is demanding Google yank a feature from its Waze traffic app that tips off drivers to police checkpoints — claiming such warnings could be considered “criminal conduct.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
The checkpoints are out in public , they can be watched , videoed and reported upon. I’m not smuggling 12 year old Guatemalan girls or 20 kilo’s of cocaine in my car but I would still want to know about delays along my route.
This is a free speech issue.
This has been challenged before, except in the 70’s with the popularity of CB Radios. People would announce where the cops are on high ways. The app is doing the same thing, its freedom of speech like you said.
I can’t remember. Is it legal to flash your lights to warn oncoming cars about a speed trap ahead? Seems I’ve heard of drivers getting tickets for doing that. Doesn’t stop me though.
Waze tells you. Before waze we would flash our headlights at oncoming traffic to warn our fellow drivers that there was a radar trap ahead.
We’re not talking about stopping murderers from getting arrested here.
How many pings from a Waze site and a cell phone tower does it take Google to associate a phone number with a LEO?
Oh no ! The Surveillance cops don’t like being watched !
Awwwwwww
Great shades of flashing your lights on the thruway to alert drivers they were approaching a speed trap....I know they used to ticket folks they caught doing it but haven’t heard of that in a long time....
Dear New York PD,
Ligma balls.
Love,
Laz
Now, there are some fuzz busters that can share data with others who own the same detector.
The checkpoints are in public, therefore the NYPD has no expectation of privacy.
In other words, blow it out your a$$, NYPD.
Kill all the red light cameras, then may we’ll sympathize with ya.
Kill all the red light cameras, then may we’ll sympathize with ya.
Waze alerts you to those also. Great feature.
Ugh, yet another google product in my life. I didn’t realize it was google until now - looks like it was bought in 2013.
Waze is no different than calling your friend on the phone following you down the same road and warning them of a speed trap ahead.
Some yokel sheriff tried this stunt a few years back.
He couldn’t give an example of police being endangered by Waze spotters and, of course, the lazy media didn’t ask.
Waze DOES allow ‘crowdsourcing’ to spread knowledge of speed traps, DUI checkpoints etc. - which of course endangers revenue collection (hello Bland County VA coppers).
It is for this reason that police resent it.
Don’t the cops want people to know there was a speed trap so they slow down? Isn’t public safety their concern? Why, this makes is seem like these speed traps are nothing more than a revenue generator.
I look at it as a safety issue. People who are so inclined are going to speed. I generally don't. I might coast along within a few mph of the speed limit on most streets just because I'm not obsessive about maintaining exactly the speed limit. For example, I'll let it roll a few mph over down a hill, and coast back down to the speed limit on the next uphill. On the highway, I'm generally not the fastest or the slowest - I run with what most of the traffic is doing. There are always a few people on either end of the bell curve - blazing along well over the speed limit or wandering along 5 or even 10 under.
But there are those people that do speed significantly, or who feel guilty at even 5 or 10 over on the highway. When they suddenly see a speed trap, they slam on their brakes. I've seen it first hand many, many times (I'm approaching a million miles on the road in various cars, trucks, and motorcycles). That's not safe for anyone following. That's the main reason I warn other drivers. Not to thwart LE, not to save speeders money or points. To help prevent sudden unexpected actions. Best rule of thumb for any relatively new drivers out there: remember the 3 S's. Don't do anything sudden, surprising, or stupid. I've only ever had one accident, and yes *I* violated the "don't do nuthin' stupid" rule.
Please, please, PLEASE, hit google with something illegal.
There is no greater threat, IMHO, than google to our freedoms.
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