Responding to concerns by Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck and other law enforcement officials that the jeopardizes the lives of police officers by allowing users to pinpoint their locations, a Google official said Tuesday the app can assist law enforcement.
In a Dec. 30 letter to Google, Beck wrote that by indicating the locations of police, the app compromises the safety and security of officers. Beck noted that in the days before he killed New York Police Department Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu on Dec. 20, Ismaiiyl Brinsley used the application to monitor police movements.
“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.
Police concerns about the app surfaced at a National Sheriff’s Association meeting in Washington. Sheriff Mike Brown of Bedford County, Virginia, reportedly called on Google to “act like the responsible corporate citizen they have always been and remove this feature from the application even before any litigation or statutory action.”
But Mossler said the company’s work with police and other government agencies “keep citizens safe, promote faster emergency response and help alleviate traffic congestion.”
“Police partners support Waze and its features, including reports of police presence, because most users tend to drive more carefully when they believe law enforcement is nearby,” Mossler said.
—City News Service