I just read an opinion piece on CNN by David Clarke Jr. Clarke is a sheriff of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Sheriff Clarke believes Google's Waze app is endangering cops. Waze "is the world's largest community-based traffic and navigation app."
I use Waze indirectly. Google tracks a lot of what I do, and where I travel; I've told Google I'm cool with that. Google gives me, in return, a lot of transit information. Google lets me know when the bus is arriving, or if it's been delayed. Waze tells me how long it'll take to get somewhere. The information Google gives is valuable to me.
Waze also lets users track cops. Sheriff Clarke doesn't like this. More below the fold.
Folks have been using police scanners for decades. Tracking cops isn't a new idea. Google and smart-phones have just made it more efficient and scalable. Clarke's argument is criminals will use this to ambush cops. It's certainly possible. It's just not a true problem. Yes, cops have been ambushed. Clarke offers up a salient, and truly horrible example,
"Ismaaiyl Brinsley is known to have used the Waze application to monitor the movements of police officers."
The criminal that executed two cops in New York last year used the app to "monitor the movements" of cops. That is horrible. It's also isolated. Cops aren't being executed daily. More than 3 million people have installed Waze. A million or so more use it indirectly, as I do.
Citizens have first amendment rights. I can share information about cops locations, if I feel like it. Clarke is concerned about a lot of mundane stuff, too, like speed traps. People are going to avoid speed traps using Waze. Yeah possibly. Or maybe they'll slow down since they know cops are on the path. His worries are ridiculous. I don't have a lot of commuting choices. A couple freeways, maybe. If there's a speed trap I'm not going miles out of my way to avoid it.
Clarke really wants to make sure we don't have a way to avoid police oversight. Citizens shouldn't know where cops are. That defeats the righteous, just actions cops take to protect us each and every day.
I wonder how many Stingray's Clarke is running. How many illegal phone cell intercepts occur every day in Milwaukee? Is Clarke running a license plate scanning operation? How long is Milwaukee retaining data they collect? How many no-knock warrants did Sheriff Clarke's deputies execute last year?
How many Fourth Amendment violations occur each and every day in Milwaukee County under Sheriff Clarke's leadership?