The Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) is warning that social media alerts revealing the location of police checkpoints could be helping armed criminals evade officers and escape detection.
ASP Terry Bradley of the Special Service Unit said Thursday that police continue to encounter situations where people use social media and messaging groups to alert motorists and others to ongoing traffic checks and police operations.
While some may view the practice as simply helping someone avoid a ticket, Bradley warned that those alerts could reach individuals carrying illegal firearms or other contraband.
“When you post the location of police officers who are conducting an operation, you do not necessarily know who is receiving that information or how that information will be used,” Bradley said, noting that an alerted individual could change routes, abandon a vehicle or dispose of contraband before encountering police. The consequences, he warned, could be deadly.
Bradley said a firearm that police might otherwise have intercepted could remain on the streets and later be used in one of the serious crimes confronting the country.
“What may appear to be a harmless message” informing others of a police location, he said, could therefore amount to interference with a lawful police operation.
The RSLPF is now appealing directly to the public to stop broadcasting the location of officers conducting checks.
Bradley acknowledged that police operations can inconvenience motorists but said those checks are critical to detecting illegal activity and bringing offenders to justice.
“If you see a police operation, you should allow the police to do their work,” he said, stressing that without those interventions, officers would be less equipped to apprehend people breaking the law.
