Police Turns to Self-Driving Companies Waymo, Cruise for Video Footage

Urian B., Tech Times 03 July 2023, 10:07 pm

Police have recently approached cruise and Waymo regarding video footage of from self-driving vehicles to solve crimes. Both companies are reportedly makers of self-driving fleets.

How Police can Rely on Sensors from Self-Driving Cars Due to the Number of Cameras They have on the Road

This was according to Bloomberg, which reported that here have been multiple times when video footage coming from the vehicles has helped authorities find the suspects. It was argued that for a long time, police have actually been relying on CCTV cameras for them to be able to monitor peoples' movements around certain crime scenes for them to be able to identify the suspect.

According to the story by Interesting Engineering, it was reported that numerous self-driving cars are on the rise and as such, the number of cameras on the road has also increased. These cameras could potentially be used to capture moments that lead up to a crime.

Self-Driving Cars are Equipped with Sensors and Cameras Capable of Street Navigation and Data Storing

The article explains that this is due to these self-driving cars being equipped with sensors and cameras, which assist in street navigation and data storing for long periods in order to assist in improving their capabilities.

It was noted that because of this, police departments are becoming increasingly aware of the video footage that can be found in the vehicles. This has resulted in them making requests to manufacturers like Cruise and Waymo.

It was noted that Waymo started its robotaxi tests in San Francisco on February 2021, according to Venture Beat.

Murder of Uber Driver Led Police to Request for Access to Waymo's Cameras

Particular examples of police approaching the self-driving car makers can be seen in December 2021, when an Uber driver was killed between his shifts. The driver, Ahmed Yusufi, was reportedly shot and the San Francisco police needed the help of Waymo to solve the crime.

This was because when they started to look for clues, they found out that there were a fleet of Waymo vehicles driving by a gray Dodge Charger. They had suspected the Charger to be the vehicle of the person suspected of being the shooter.

The police then approached Waymo, which is a company owned by Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google. A warrant was approved by the court for hours of the footage that was captured by the vehicle.

After this, the company complied and the police were able to use the footage to investigate further the incident. It was noted that with more cars in their fleet, self-driving or robotaxi companies could also be referred to as a centralized repository of video footage that can be used by the police as an alternative to neighborhood CCTV systems.

As noted by Interesting Engineering, Waymo and Cruise note that whenever they provide data, they only give as little as possible. However, the publication points to the fact that due to their abundance of data, even a little could actually be a lot.