DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If you have a Ring Doorbell, the rules about accessing footage from that camera will be changing. Amazon, the company that owns the video doorbell system, is going to stop allowing police departments to request video from users.
It comes after privacy groups raised concerns, but local law enforcement leaders worry this could have a big effect on investigations.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said it could slow many investigations back down after the technology helped investigators speed them up.
“We want homeowners to tie into our system, business owners, schools to tie into our system because when a crime occurs, we can view that,” he said.
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On Wednesday, Ring released a post that said it’s getting rid of the “Request for Assistance” tool on the Neighbor’s app. The feature allowed law enforcement to request and receive video of incidents captured by the doorbell cameras.
Now, investigators will have to get a search warrant.
“Say there’s a shooting on a block where we know there’s 12 Ring cameras. That’s 12 search warrants and if history has taught us anything, you’re not going to get that video any time soon,” said Chitwood.
What is not clear just yet is if people who have a Ring camera can still willingly hand their footage off to the police to help them investigate.
If not, that could also be a game changer for city and neighborhood programs created to help residents and police work together to catch criminals.
“I spoke with the city attorney just a little while ago. They’re still researching it,” said Daytona Beach Commissioner Ken Strickland.
Strickland pushed for a resident Ring camera program after a murder suspect was caught on Ring and surveillance cameras during Bike Week in 2022.
The city gave 200 Ring cameras to residents for free as long as they agreed to give police their video if a crime occurred in their area.
“It just made sense to provide more cameras so that people would have that available to them in case something happened,” he said.
Residents who opted into the program told News 6 they worry this change in the company’s policy could change how quickly a crime in their neighborhood gets solved.
The company did not give a reason for the change, but it comes after several groups raised concerns about privacy.
“I can understand some people but what is it that you’re trying to hide from if you’re trying to do that anyway,” said resident Jody Noble.
Noble said she understands the privacy concerns some may have had but now wonders how their captured video could help capture a crook.
“If I’m not doing anything and I can help law enforcement do something about some of the activities that go on in this neighborhood that even I see sometimes, then I think it’s worth it,” she said.
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