The Google Maps mobile application for cell phones and other devices notifies users of traffic slow-downs, suggests alternate routes around construction on the roadways, and tells drivers that "there's a speed trap ahead."
According to ABC News, the Google Maps application is not the only one to offer distant early warning of officers lying in wait, radar guns in hand, ready to issue citations to speeders. The Waze mobile app, which is also owned by Google and is available on both Android and Apple's operating system, also offers such information based on user-submitted data.
"Revealing the location of checkpoints puts those drivers, their passengers, and the general public at risk," the New York Police Department said in its letter to Google.