An app that is supposed to help people is putting police officers' lives in danger and preventing them from doing their job.
The National Sheriff's Association has broadened its campaign against Waze this week after releasing a new statement criticizing the Google's software as hampering the use of speed traps. The trade association said speed enforcement techniques, like radar guns, have reduced highway deaths, and the app prevents those techniques from working properly.
"This app will hamper those activities by locating law enforcement officers and puts the public at risk," the group said, according to the Associated Press.
The sheriff's association opened its campaign after the fatal shootings of two New York police officers back in December.
The Waze app, which works like a free GPS navigation tool, allows users to tag spots of parked police vehicles, congestion, traffic camera, and accidents so that other drivers using the app are warned when they approach the same spot.
"Most users tend to drive more carefully when they believe law enforcement is nearby," Waze spokeswoman Julie Mossler said, according to the AP report.
Waze has gained popularity since law enforcements concerns were first reported, climbing four spots to No. 8 on Apple's top free mobile apps.
Other major police trade groups haven't formally joined the sheriffs' campaign yet. Sheriff Mike Brown of Bedford County, Virginia, said that states could pass laws to prevent people from revealing the locations of parked police cars.
Privacy advocates believe the First Amendment protects users from getting into trouble.
"Waze represents person-to person information in the public square," said Nuala O'Connor, head of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington civil liberties group, who said she uses the software, "And that's long been a U.S. right under the Constitution."
No violent attacks on police have been reported yet as a result of the Waze software.
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