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Police officer revealed where speed cameras were located on WhatsApp

Police officers are supposed to monitor traffic, but not announce online where they are going to speed.(Bild: Peter Tomschi)

The buck stopped here: a young police officer is said to have regularly revealed where and when speed cameras are located in a WhatsApp group with thousands of members. The law enforcement officer, who is both in need of information and probably naive, will have to answer for abuse of authority in court in Wels on Tuesday.

What do you do if you don't want to get caught up in a traffic stop? There are plenty of technical helpers such as sat navs with integrated police warnings, but traffic offenders in the Vöcklabruck district had an even more powerful tool at their disposal from the beginning of 2023 to the end of 2024: a WhatsApp group with over 1,000 members, in which the locations and times of traffic checks were passed on. Where this information came from will be heard at Wels Regional Court on Tuesday.

"He didn't think anything of it"
 A 27-year-old man has to answer for abuse of authority and breach of confidentiality. Where did he get the information? From his work - because he is a police officer himself. "The accused has no criminal record and received nothing for his actions. He confessed in full and said he didn't think anything of it," said Andreas Rumplmayr, spokesman for the Wels Regional Court.

The defendant has no criminal record and received nothing for his actions. He confessed in full and said he had thought nothing of it.

Andreas Rumplmayr, Sprecher am Landesgericht Wels

A total of one hundred and eleven messages were sent on 62 days
In total, the officer with a penchant for communication is said to have sent 111 messages on 62 days and also shared three pictures of accident scenes in the group. In doing so, he is said to have breached his statutory duty of confidentiality and jeopardized confidentiality interests. The abuse of office came to light following an anonymous complaint to the Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAK). If convicted, the careless law enforcement officer faces six months to five years in prison.