STREETSBORO, Ohio — Northeast Ohio police departments are warning residents about a mobile app called CrimeRadar.
Officers said it may be spreading fake and misleading crime alerts by misinterpreting police radio traffic.
Streetsboro school incident
Streetsboro Mayor Glenn Broska said the app almost set off a panic in his community after reporting shots were fired at an elementary school.
The problem? That's not what happened at the school.
"To me, that was irresponsible, Broska said. "That's like yelling fire in a movie theater. It really, truly is."
Broska said the incident didn't involve firearms. He said a kindergarten student accidentally pulled the fire alarm.
However, the app's post said, "Firearms discharged at elementary school in Streetsboro."
Broska said Streetsboro's police chief plastered the word "fake" over the post in big red letters and shared it on the department's Facebook page.
Broska said he shared the information on his social media pages.
"We were able to keep any panic from starting from it," Broska said.
Twinsburg and Cleveland police also heard what happened and also posted warnings on their Facebook pages.
News 5 reached out to CrimeRadar. They did not respond to our requests for comment.
The description on Google Play said it maps emergency radio reports so users can monitor nearby incidents.
Broska said it appears to use artificial intelligence to turn them into breaking news alerts.
But Broska said early reports are often wrong.
"The people that grab stuff off the scanner and just blurt it out - that's not the greatest thing in the world," Broska said.
