Jan 12, 2009 11:35 pm US/Eastern
Device On Your Phone Warns About Police Traps
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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If you see a police car, you enter the location by tapping the map on your phone. You press another icon and the information goes into a server.
WBZ
It's almost a secret society. Drivers warning other drivers about police traps. The traditional method of flashing your headlights has always meant slow down, cop ahead. But now there's a new high-tech method to help drivers stay out of trouble.
Chris Carrillo doesn't worry much about getting stopped by the police. That's because he has what he calls a guardian angel watching out for him.
It's a new download for phones called
Trapster. "I was going a little too fast and my little guardian angel came on and said 'police ahead' and I was able to slow down in time," Chris told WBZ.
How does it work? It uses the driving community. If you see a police car, you enter the location by tapping the map on your phone. You press another icon and the information goes into a server.
That information is sent out to other Trapster users alerting them of the cop's location. Among the messages the Trapster voice can send you: "Live Police," "Police Often Hide Here," and "Red Light Camera."
Chris insists he does not use the program to speed, but rather as a reminder to drive carefully. Chris explains that since it requires other people to notify Trapster of a police presence, you might get caught if you are the first person who comes across that cop and you are speeding.
In other words, an alert from Trapster will tell you police are nearby, but if you don't get an alert, there still could be a police presence that no one else has spotted yet.
And what do cops think of all this?
WBZ spoke with Wayne Sampson, head of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police. He worries that Trapster makes the phone more of a distraction while driving. But believe it or not, he likes the concept. "Whatever is on the market today that helps a community reduce speed especially in our residential areas to us is a benefit."
Trapster is free. To get the voice alerts and the maps, you need to have a Smartphone such as an iPhone or Blackberry.
However, if you have a regular cell phone, you will get text messages instead.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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