Amazon Is Coaching Cops on How to Obtain Surveillance Footage Without a Warrant
Source: Vice
Amazon Is Coaching Cops on How to Obtain Surveillance Footage Without a Warrant
Ring, Amazons home surveillance company, is teaching police how to convince residents to share camera footage with them.
By Caroline Haskins
Aug 5 2019, 1:08pm
When police partner with Ring, Amazons home surveillance camera company, they get access to the Law Enforcement Neighborhood Portal, an interactive map that allows officers to request footage directly from camera owners. Police dont need a warrant to request this footage, but they do need permission from camera owners.
Emails and documents obtained by Motherboard reveal that people arent always willing to provide police with their Ring camera footage. However, Ring works with law enforcement and gives them advice on how to persuade people to give them footage.
Emails obtained from police department in Maywood, NJand emails from the police department of Bloomfield, NJ, which were also posted by Wiredshow that Ring coaches police on how to obtain footage. The company provides cops with templates for requesting footage, which they do not need a court warrant to do. Ring suggests cops post often on Neighbors, Rings free neighborhood watch app, where Ring camera owners have the option of sharing their camera footage.
"I have noticed you have been posting alerts and receiving feedback from the community, a Ring representative told Bloomfield police. You are doing a great job interacting with them and that will be critical in increasing the opt-in rate.
The more users you have, the more useful the information you can collect, the representative added.
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https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43kga3/amazon-is-coaching-cops-on-how-to-obtain-surveillance-footage-without-a-warrant