Police officers offer striking ringing cameras in exchange for information

June 21st Chris Williams, the captain of the El Monte Police Department in California, sent an email to staff members reminding them that a new incentive was encouraging crime witnesses to share information. with the forces of order. Instead of the cash reward used by some programs, El Monte has distributed camera-equipped bells made by the Ring House security company, which starts at $ 99 retail. "The security camera system for the Ring appeal not only provides information on the actions and descriptions of a suspect, but also serves to deter criminals," Williams wrote, according to documents obtained in response to a request public registration.

Earlier that year, El Monte had entered into an official partnership with Ring, which gave officers access to an online platform on which they could ask citizens for images of their cameras at the door that might be related to a criminal investigation. In exchange, the police are encouraging the use of Ring's cameras and its crime monitoring app, Neighbors. A few weeks after Williams sent a reminder about the rewards program, a Ring employee sent him a congratulatory message: "Since EMPD was first integrated on the 5/1, you have all increased the number of users of your Neighbors application (El Monte residents) of 1,058 users. ! Good work!"

Although El Monte's rewards program is quite unique, the relationship between the police service and Ring is not. According to a note discovered by Gizmodo earlier this week, more than 225 other police departments have entered into contractual partnerships with the surveillance company, acquired by Amazon last year for more than $ 800 million. Some departments have given free or discount Ring devices to the community, and many are subsidized with taxpayer money, according to information provided by Motherboard. Ring says she did not pay the bells at El Monte and the police department did not return a request for comment.

Ring's partnerships with law enforcement have been increasingly scrutinized in recent months as media have questioned their lack of transparency and potential for invasion of privacy. . Ring says his products can dramatically reduce crime in the communities, but critics questioned the motives for the charges. Others accuse the Neighbors app, and similar apps like Citizen, to create an ersatz surveillance state and stir fears at a time when the crime rate is at its lowest historic level . The bells activated by the movement of society can capture the innocent activities of people living nearby, such as a person walking on a public street. Earlier this week, the digital rights group Fight for the Future launched a new campaign asking citizens to demand from their local police services that they end their relationship with the company.

"We are proud of our partnerships with law enforcement and the opportunities they offer to users of the Neighbors app," said a spokeswoman for Ring in a statement. "Through these partnerships, we are opening channels of communication between community members and local law enforcement, and providing application users with important crime and safety information right from the ground up. the official source. We have seen many positive examples of Neighbors and law enforcement users using the application and are convinced that open communication is an important step in creating safer communities and stronger. "

Ring sought to tightly control how police representatives describe his partnerships with the company, as reported by Gizmodo and Motherboard. It sends pre-programmed discussion points to social media cops and boxed publicity messages on Neighbors. The company is also asking the police to sign confidential agreements, which often include a clause promising not to issue public statements on Ring before their first validation by Ring. "The relationship between the company and the police does not necessarily seem to be about public safety," says Dave Mabad, investigator investigator at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "They seem to engage the forces of order in some kind of sales role."

When the police services even go slightly outside the script, Ring pushes them away. In April, the Bloomfield Police Department in New Jersey announced its partnership with Ring and issued a press release on social media which, according to documents obtained from another public records application, would have been almost entirely pre-written by the company. The only parts that were not directly extracted from Ring are quotes attributed to Bloomfield mayor Michael Venezia and his director of public security, Samuel DeMaio. Nevertheless, a member of Ring's public relations team sent an e-mail to the ministry after the announcement, requesting several corrections, such as ensuring that Ring was still capitalized and that his Neighbors application was mentioned by name.

"Unfortunately, I can not do [the mayor and public safety director] nothing to say in particular, "replied Vincent Kerney, captain of the Bloomfield police, to the employee of the Ring. "All information has been copied and pasted directly from your press releases, with the exception of quotes." The public relations manager of Ring insisted that the changes be made at least on Facebook, what they were afterwards, according to the history of the article's changes. The Bloomfield Police Service did not return a request for comment.

Once a police department has access to the Ring Portal, agents can use it to request video footage from local Ring Camera owners. The request email uses a template written largely by Ring, although the font specifies the time frame and geographic area they are looking for, as well as adding a custom message. The police do not need a warrant to send an application and citizens have no legal obligation to surrender their records. But Ring does not always remind his customers. In a May request sent by the police to Bloomfield, Ring begins by informing people that "video sharing is an absolute choice." In another message sent by the El Monte police in June, this explicit disclosure was not present. The email instead states that "If you want to take direct action against crime in your community, it's a great opportunity."

"Call customers decide to share footage in public or with law enforcement. As we develop our programs, confidentiality, security and control will remain extremely important to us, and every decision we make as a company is based on these three pillars, "said the spokesman. Ring in a statement.