WASHINGTON, D.C. - Modern technology is turning the table on cops. Drivers can now get instant warnings on their cell phone or GPS when a DUI checkpoint is near. That has police outraged and worried that drunk drivers could use it to escape arrest.

Everyone knows drinking and driving don't mix, but for those who chance it, there's a controversial new tool to help them not get busted.

All you need is a GPS or a Smartphone. You pay a fee, and companies will tell you where to find DUI checkpoints or popular areas for police to bust drunk drivers.

"This is an area that usually police like to set up checkpoints," explained Joe Scott, founder of Phantom Alert. "This is an area where someone has already gotten a DUI ticket."

Scott's company started out helping drivers dodge tickets from speed traps, plus red lights and speed cameras. He expanded to DUI checkpoints. Workers comb police press releases for locations and people can log in to report their own.

As FOX 5 drove around D.C., we saw locations pop up-- especially around hot nightspots. 

"You'll see an icon show up with a martini glass and a cop car right behind it," explained Scott.

But not surprisingly, police say this new app is sabotaging their efforts. 

In Montgomery County, Maryland, police sometimes announce DUI checkpoints without exact locations. Police say having that information out there could endanger everyone on the road.

"If that were to occur, it could cause someone to go ahead and drink and drive because they think they've got a free pass," said Captain Paul Starks of the Montgomery Count Police Department.

Not so, say the companies behind the products. Buzzed, a new iPhone application that does the same thing, includes a call a cab feature.

"If you know there's a crackdown for DUI, then you're most likely not going to do it," said Jonathan Milman, the co-creator of Buzzed. "And that's where our cab feature comes in."

Still, there's no preventing people from using the checkpoint alerts to get away with driving drunk. But the point, both companies say, is to deter drunk driving in the first place.

"Why do people put a home security sign in front of their house? It's to stop the burglar from coming in, in the first place," Milman said. "That's the purpose of DUI checkpoints. It's to stop people from driving drunk in the first place."

"We're not blowing their cover, not undercutting their efforts," said Scott. "Actually we're enhancing it."

They invite police to team up with them by providing checkpoint locations directly. Don't expect Montgomery County to sign on.

"I don't know that we're going to ever be interested in letting people know exactly where our DUI checkpoints are," said Starks.