Police Found a Loophole in Waze, and They're Using It for a Good Cause

The Google-owned application can collect information from devices where the app is running, but at the same time, it also allows drivers to send traffic-related reports, including the location of police and speed traps.

In other words, one driver can flag the location of a speed trap on the map, with all the other Waze users in the region then getting a warning and seeing precisely where the police officers are located.

It goes without saying this is a controversial feature that has already been overly discussed since it first made its way to Waze, but at least in theory, it should help encourage safer driving. When drivers are aware they’re approaching a speed trap, they tend to slow down, especially when going over the speed limit – of course, this also allows speedsters to escape uncaught, but this is a completely different story, and we’re not here to expand this debate.

So in theory, the location of the police being flagged on Waze is supposed to encourage safer driving. And this is the reason the police in Surrey, UK are using a loophole in the application for what they claim to be a good cause.

First of all, here’s what’s happening.

The Surrey Police’s Roads Policing has admitted on Twitter that officers are “dropping police markers on Waze at random points” while on patrol. In other words, when police officers are out on patrol, they randomly flag their location on Waze, essentially making the other motorists running the app know they are around.

The police claim they are doing this for a good cause: as a result of the reports, drivers slow down, thus helping prevent speeding in the flagged regions.

The officers seem to know precisely how Waze works. First of all, the police claim that sometimes both officers in the patrol car report the speed trap on Waze – this adds more weight to a report on the app, so the chances of a user being shadow-banned for false reporting are significantly reduced.

Then, they admit the reports don’t stay up for long because the other Waze users driving past can mark on Waze that the speed trap isn’t actually there. “10 mins of safer drivers,” the Surrey Police say, explaining that most cars would still slow down in the few minutes of the report staying online.

And last but not least, the police say they’re not doing anything wrong, and the report they’re sending aren’t fake. Technically, when they pinpoint their location on Waze, they are actually there in the exact same spot, and “nowhere on Waze does it say the patrol has to be stationary.”

The Surrey Police says this tactic is not a policy endorsed by the local authorities, so the officers are only doing this on their own in an attempt to deter dangerous driving. The approach, however, is currently under review, so it’ll be interesting to see if the officers will continue using it given the criticism the police have received lately.

But when it comes to this criticism, opinions on whether the Surrey Police officers are doing a good thing or not are extremely divided.

On one hand, there are those people who claim that the police should better increase the presence of officers on the roads and stop looking for loopholes in the technology drivers are using. Furthermore, many blamed the officers for misusing Waze, especially because the found loophole isn’t necessarily easy to address.

On the other hand, many Internet users claim that as long as safer driving is encouraged, this is perfectly fine. After all, these people say, nobody should be bothered by the presence of officers on the road, real or fake, as long as they are driving within the allowed speed limits.

Waze has so far refused to comment on the whole thing.

We definitely don’t drop Police markers on Waze at random points on our patrol, nope - never ????

An easy way to get drivers to slow down on our roads - thanks @waze. pic.twitter.com/rrv9I9LJJ6

— Roads Policing - Surrey Police - UK (@SurreyRoadCops) August 29, 2022