Pollice in Philadelphia confessed to something very unique on Friday, admitting that it used deliberately disguised one of its trucks to look like one of the tech giant's ubiquitous Google Vans. The van attracted much attention after several tech-savvy residents noticed that the van was equipped not with Google's conventional cameras for Google Maps, but with high-end license plate reading equipment.

In a statement, the Philly police asserted that the Google Maps decals on the van, which was confirmed to have been used without the knowledge and permission of the tech juggernaut, was placed on the vehicle without knowledge of the higher-ups in the police.

"We have been informed that this unmarked vehicle belongs to the police department; however, the placing of any particular decal on the vehicle was not approved through any chain of command. With that being said, once this was brought to our attention, it was ordered that the decals be removed immediately," a spokesperson stated.

The disguised van brought up the issue of why agencies such as the police are resorting to subterfuge in order to keep a close eye on residents without the people's knowledge. After all, if it was a vehicle owned by the police, why was there a need to use the Google Maps logo. The fact that the logo was used without Google's permission, of course, added to fuel to the fire.

At the center of the controversy, however, are the cameras that were equipped in the disguised police van. Called APLRs, the cameras that the van was equipped with have gained notoriety for its ability to photograph thousands of license plate images per minute. Thus, the data acquired through the cameras could be used to track the travel patterns of the people in the city.

Though APLRs are very useful technology in the fight against crime, the way that the cameras were hidden, as well as the fact that there was some form of deception involved, unsettled a number of residents in the area.

After all, APLRs are usually used to gather data about drug interdiction, unpaid taxes and fees, AMBER alert missions and even efforts into finding the location of a stolen vehicle. Thus, if the van was indeed doing regular police business, why was there a need to hide the vehicle's true identity in the first place?

Google has stated that it would be investigating the incident.

Related