The city of Denver, US, has had to pay $3.76 million in damages and compensation as a result of Apple’s Location app. The city’s police wrongfully searched an old woman’s home in 2022 in an attempt to find guns and a stolen truck.
CNN reported that Denver police were looking for a stolen truck that included weapons, ammunition, and cash. To find the car, the cops utilized Apple’s Find My feature on a different iPhone.But, out of a pretty large area, the police chose the incorrect home to storm in and apprehend the criminals.
Ruby Johnson,78, filed a complaint against the police as a result of this botched raid. The city will give Johnson a $3.76 million payment in recompense.
Additionally, individual lawsuits were filed against Detective Gary Staab and Sgt. Gregory Buschy, the defendant officers. The jury disapproved of the Denver police’s earlier findings absolving both individuals of any misconduct.
How the Find My app from Apple helped
On Johnson’s behalf, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the officers’ “alleged location ping from an iPhone’s Find My app, for which they had no training,” was the reason behind the raid.
The police allegedly used a “Find My” ping from an iPhone 11 that was most likely still in the stolen truck, according to the lawsuit. Nevertheless, the indicated region encompassed portions of four city blocks and six additional homes.
“We are disturbed by the lack of training or policy changes and hope that the amount of the punitive damages award will send a strong message that the police department must take seriously the constitutional rights of its residents,” stated Tim Macdonald, Johnson’s attorney, in a statement.
The two police officers who gave the order for the raid had no justification for picking Johnson’s house as the target, according to the ACLU and the jury.
In addition, the officers must each pay punitive and compensatory damages totaling about $1.25 million. According to a clerk in Denver District Court, the city has not yet submitted an appeal of the decision.