Drivers would not be the only ones to report on the Waze community application the police patrols present on the road. In a series of tweets posted on Monday August 29, 2022, the Surrey County Road Safety Brigade, located in south-west London, said half-heartedly that they were issuing false warnings to get motorists to reduce their speed. , reports The Guardian relayed by 01net.
Police accused of spreading false information
“We certainly don’t drop police markers on Waze in random places during our patrols, no, never”, the brigade mischievously expressed. According to her, Waze would therefore be “an easy way to encourage drivers to slow down on our roads”.
In response, several Internet users, annoyed by these statements, accused the police of disinformation, which would go once morest several local laws. Waze’s terms of service also punish false reports.
In response, the brigade highlighted the fact that the information reported was not “technically not wrong”: “We were fine in this place at one point. »
Budget cuts
The brigade has also been accused of creating ghost patrols to compensate for its potential lack of growth on the roads. “We are not responsible for the major budget cuts made in recent years within the English police which have decimated the units dedicated to road safety”replied the brigade.
The Road Safety Patrol tweets were eventually the subject of an official statement from Surrey Police. ‘Although officers have used this app to deter dangerous driving on our roads, it is not a tactic or policy endorsed by Surrey Police’, she said. The local police also assured that “Technology has not replaced the presence of agents on [les] routes ».
