Indian Police Using Facebook to Catch Scofflaw Drivers

New Delhi police have a new weapon in the battle against bad drivers, Facebook. Two months ago the police created a Facebook page that allowed people to inform on others breaking traffic laws, and upload pictures of the violations. The page has more than 17,000 fans, and 3,000 pictures currently. From the article: "The online rap sheet was impressive. There are photos of people on motorcycles without helmets, cars stopped in crosswalks, drivers on cellphones, drivers in the middle of illegal turns and improperly parked vehicles. Using the pictures, the Delhi Traffic Police have issued 665 tickets, using the license plate numbers shown in the photos to track vehicle owners, said the city’s joint commissioner of traffic, Satyendra Garg."

Oh god no

[ZeroExistenZ]

They opensourced policing!

Re:ah this will be fun

[Peter Mork]

This type of shenanigan is already being done in Montgomery County (Maryland). High school students first find a teacher that owns a vehicle that resembles one they own. They then print out a fake license plate, tape it over their own license plate, and blow through a speed camera at a high velocity. It shouldn't take long for Indians to replicate this game.

I did this after my last ticket...

[2obvious4u]

I has stopped in traffic and got a speeding ticket. I was so upset that I started a log of all the police I caught breaking traffic laws. I started calling 911 and their supervisors whenever I caught one doing over 90 MPH traveling out of county. I had about 4 pages full of incidents in my log book before my court date. I even thought about getting front and rear dash cams in my car (still wish I had those I watched a car slam into the guard rail and roll 3 times in my review mirror the other day on the way home). Didn't need to use the logs because the ticket got thrown out.

Re:Good idea but I see too much chance for abuse

[nospam007]

"Yes, there will probably be a few abuse cases. The vast majority will be found out quickly and easily, very few people have really good photoshop skills."

You don't need much to waste a civil servant's time. Just thousand of false positives and images with cars in it.

Crowdsourcing

[Nushio]

Is the term you were looking for, I think.

Crowdsourced police? Sounds similar to those "Neighbors on Watch" signs I see on the streets.

Re:Come on, this is a GOOD thing...

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, well since you don't know photoshop, naturally that means that very, very few people know how to use it. Just because you don't know photoshop clearly means that there is absolutely no potential for misuse of this system. Please don't ever learn photoshop, because if you do, we will all be in a world of trouble.

Old Robin Williams' bit

[R3d M3rcury]

This makes me think of an old Robin Williams' bit. To paraphrase, the idea was that every driver on the road is issued a gun that will shoot a flag that says "Asshole." When you see someone do something stupid, you fire the gun at the car and they end up with a little flag that says "Asshole" on their car.

One advantage of this is you'd be able to tell who the idiot drivers are and give them a wide berth. Kind of like a few years ago back in Florida when all the rental-car license plates started with 'Y'--if you saw a car with a 'Y' license plate, there was a good chance they didn't know where they were going and might change lanes at any moment.

Also, it would make it easier for the police to eventually catch these people. Heck, just make a law that says if you have more than 5 "Asshole" flags on your car, you get a ticket for being an asshole.

(Obviously this wouldn't really work--it's a comedy bit. But one can dream...)