Google Maps error names Waukesha parade memorial site for killer
By Nick Bohr
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WAUKESHA, Wisconsin (WISN) — The new parade tragedy memorial dedicated Thursday at Grede Park is a way to help Waukesha heal. But a last-minute discovery is causing additional pain.
“Today is a difficult day for all of those families, so something like this being out there, is not helping,” said Mayor Shawn Reilly Thursday morning, after it was discovered that Google Maps listed the parade memorial at Grede Park as “Darrell Brooks Memorial Park.”
Brooks is the man who intentionally drove into the 2021 Waukesha Christmas parade, killing six people, and is now serving multiple life sentences.
“There are literally thousands of people that are impacted by this. Thousands and thousands,” Reilly said. “And this is trauma for a lot of people.”
Google’s own website says users can partially alter Google Maps by submitting edits, but the edits are supposed to be reviewed by Google before being applied to the map.
Asked by WISN 12 News how this happened, a Google spokesperson said in an email “User edits are essential to keeping Google Maps up to date and we monitor around the clock to keep them reliable. As soon as the inaccurate name was detected, we removed it from our system – people are seeing this change roll out now.”
The mayor said unequivocally the focus today shouldn’t be on someone finding a way to rename Grede Park on a digital map but rather on the new memorial, and the victims that it honors.
“Remembering the lives that were lost, the people that were injured, and the people that were traumatized. And, helping them through their healing,” Reilly said.
“Actually, my hope is it was some child that thought they were being funny. But more likely it’s some adult that just has evil in them,” Reilly said.
The maps appeared to be correcting by Wednesday afternoon, depending on which device it was viewed on.
According to Google, the map could still show the incorrect information for some time. The company suggests clearing the cache on the mobile device or browser which could show the update more quickly.
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