A Smart Doorbell Company Is Working With Cops To Report 'Suspicious' People, Activities (vice.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Smart doorbell company Ring is making it easier for customers to call the cops on "suspicious" people and activities. The startup, which Amazon acquired for reportedly "more than" $1 billion this year, uses security cameras to let people monitor their entryways. Now, it's launching its Neighbors app -- a platform for reporting crime that, so far, police in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, and the Ventura Sheriff's Department, have access to. "Over the next days and weeks, law enforcement across the U.S. will be joining Neighbors," a Ring spokesperson told me over email.

The app, while presented as a crime-fighting aid, could also be a new place for paranoid people to profile fellow citizens, as similar platforms in the past have turned out to be. According to the company's statement in a press release for Neighbors today: "In addition to receiving push notifications about potential security issues, app users can see recent crime and safety posts uploaded by their neighbors, the Ring team and local law enforcement via an interactive map. If a neighbor notices suspicious activity in their area, they can post their own text, photo or video and alert the community to proactively prevent crime."

Comments

Re:In Florida? Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

In Florida it was decided that it was OK to shoot someone much larger than yourself who had you down on the ground and was slamming your head into the concrete. That's not the same thing as just shooting anyone who looks suspicious.

Makes sense

[110010001000]

My local police force has something similar already. You get SMS when there are "issues" in your neighborhood. A website also allows you to view recent crime in the area. You don't need to be paranoid to be vigilant.

Re:Makes sense

[cayenne8]

"Kids aren't stupid, they just have to be trained right."

Well, it worked for me.

We had a gun in the house, and I was a young child, I think I was likely in about 5th-6th grade when we got it.

My dad showed me how the pistol worked, and let me shoot it, etc.

They also put the fear of God into me if I ever so much as thought about touching it without supervision.

I was a latch key kid...both parents worked, I came home alone most school days and when I was about 13yrs, I would spend summer days home alone.

I was told where the guns was, and I knew it was loaded.

One day when home alone, it was raining. A strange man came up and stayed in our door way, He was asking for a drink of water, I refused behind the locked door. I was frightened....as per my parent's instructions, I was then ok'ed for me to get the gun.

I retrieved it, I chambered a round and held it, till the storm passed, and he finally left.

After I felt safe, I dropped the magazine, un-chambered the round, put the round back in magazine and put magazine back in gun, and replaced it where it was usually hidden.

After I did that,I called my Mom at work and told her what happened, etc.

Are kids more stupid today and can't handle this?

Re:Makes sense

[cayenne8]

Running to get a gun because a stranger is at the door?

Seriously?

You don't think a young teen, home alone, with a ragged looking man hanging out on their doorstep, not going away, would be a reason for you to be somewhat concerned or frightened????

Yes, I grabbed that gun, just to be ready in case this person, that was NOT from the neighborhood (we all knew each other) tried to force his way into the house and defend myself.

Wow....I guess you're more trusting than most folks I know, especially THESE days, of home invasions, etc.

Re:Makes sense

[cayenne8]

... as long as nothing changes lots and lots and lots of people are going to be shot.

It is insanely EASY....as long as no one attempts to break into my house/property and steal or do harm to myself of ones I care about, they they will NOT get shot.

If they choose to commit these crimes, then of course they deserve to and will be shot.

I don't see what's so difficult for you to understand.

it is 100% up to them....don't do the crime.

Re:Makes sense

[cayenne8]

The only think difficult to understand is why America has such a boner for guns, let me ask if you think the current cost in lives for your 'right' to have them a)too much b)too little or c)just right. How many innocent people need to die before you, as a society think, you know what, there might be a middle ground here?

Well, I'm guessing you're not from America, so I'd have to start the answer by, "If I have to explain it to you, you'd not understand."

As for lives lost, well, ONE life lost for most anything, that isn't justified (criminal acts) is too many.

If you take the gun death numbers in the US, and correct them.....say, remove suicides from that number, since well, that is a self induced act, a choice and if you're determined to kill yourself, then you'll find any method to do so.

The number here we're concerned with, is person to person shootings resulting in death. If you drop that number, you'll see the number of gun deaths is about the same as the number of deaths from automobile crashes.

You take that number, and look at I believe it is like 40% or so of those, are gang related deaths....criminals shooting criminals....if guns weren't here, they'd find other ways.

Heck, last I heard, that in London, the crime rate was rivaling New York City...and that they were now considering "sensible knife laws". So, I guess a criminal will find whatever they can use, as that they don't by definition care if it is legal or not.

The VAST majority of gun owners in the US, are law abiding citizens, whose weapons will never be used against another person, nor be used in an illegal manner.

Why then, should we cater to the lowest denominator, a few crazy folks and some criminals....and take away rights the vast majority of people have now?

I very much LOVE having my gun collection. I regularly go out target shooting. I go through quite a bit of ammo monthly. It makes me happy and I enjoy it.

And, unless I do something illegal with them, no one and no entity has need to know what I have.....no more so than they need to know what knives, or lawn mowers I've purchased. Guns like any other things, are merely tools.

Re:Changing times

[kilfarsnar]

Are the stereotypical old ladies of the future going to monitor their Neighbors app instead of a police scanner? Joking aside, I wonder if this will do more to create false perceptions of danger than it will to keep people genuinely informed.

Have you ever read the police log of a small town? People are afraid of their own shadows. Your average person is not qualified to assess what is a threat and what isn't.

Re:In Florida? Really?

[cayenne8]

..also, are we really saying that the appropriate sentencing response to theft is death?

Depends on the state laws, etc....

A few years back, here in LA, there was a case where a guy came out on the balcony of his 2nd story apartment, and saw just below in the parking lot, 2 thieves in his car rummaging around stealing stuff.

He pulled out his gun and opened fire, killing one and wounding the other I believe, that ran off.

They actually tried to try him, but no jury would convict him.

I was actually surprised it went to trial at all, as that here in LA, the car is considered and extension of your home.

In TX, I believe you can freely open fire if you find someone on your property stealing stuff.

Frankly, I have no problem with that....if they'd not been committing the crime on property they didn't now own, they'd be happily alive and processing oxygen.

If I'm home and someone breaks in to my house, I assume 100%, that the person means bodily harm to myself, family/friends within and I won't even be checking the body till I'm loading my 3rd magazine generally.

Re:In Florida? Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

>he thinks it was a senseless murder!
Martin was killed by Zimmerman because Martin was assaulting him. Zimmerman showed in court he feared for his life and the use of deadly force was justified. It was not murder. It was not even manslaughter. I invite you to have someone slam your head against concrete and tell me with a straight face you wouldn't be afraid for your life. Zimmerman shooting Martin to stop the attack is actually the most reasonable course of action in that circumstance.

Re:In Florida? Really?

[ganjadude]

trayvon made the first contact not the other way around, per trayvons girlfriend under oath. last i checked, walking behind someone isnt a crime

Re:In Florida? Really?

[Nidi62]

>he thinks it was a senseless murder! Martin was killed by Zimmerman because Martin was assaulting him. Zimmerman showed in court he feared for his life and the use of deadly force was justified. It was not murder. It was not even manslaughter.

Zimmerman broke the first rule of self defense that they teach in gun safety course: don't put yourself into situations where you are not safe. He could have remained in his vehicle to follow Martin or, as advised by the 911 operator, not followed him at all. His reckless actions started him down a course that ended with him being in a position where he felt he needed to fire his weapon. And I would say that the fact that he keeps getting in trouble for threatening people and waving his gun around demonstrates that he probably isn't competent enough to continue owning firearms.

It's paranoia when they're really victimizing you?

[swb]

I've lived in large single family home residential neighborhood in a city (looks suburban, but is in the city) for 19 years and over the past 5+ years, the amount of nuisance theft has skyrocketed. Just on my *block* it's not unusual to hear about a car being rifled, strange "door to door" sales people with no materials/identification/logos. We had a rash of car entries using keyless entry repeaters and a couple of sneak burglaries (snatching purses from kitchen tables). Over a week last November, the entire larger neighborhood was hit by package thieves, including my house. 3 different people had footage of the car involved.

I had a long conversation with my council member about what can be done and was told that we should just report it and then do insurance or whatever. I asked why we couldn't get more police patrols and was told our area was "too low crime" (the numbers say we're the lowest crime area in the city) and there wasn't sufficient resources.

So what the fuck? Just put up with it? That's the answer? Or just change my thinking, it *must* be my racial bias?

Or this is somehow really ad-hoc redistributive economic justice, and I'm just too racist to notice?

scare quotes

[cascadingstylesheet]

I love the scare quotes around "suspicious", like that's just some crazy impossible concept.

Black People

[Anonymous Coward]

A new doorbell that will call the cops on Black People for being black?

Thatâ(TM)ll take it to the next level.... heâ(TM)ll yeah Murica!

Re:Neighborhood Watch

[gweihir]

That is because you understand that freedom is far, far more important than security. Unfortunately, that makes you part of a tiny minority. The others will gladly welcome the next fascist catastrophe as long as they get promised "security".