FRESNO, Calif. ( The Hill / YourCentralValley.com ) — Chief of the Fresno Police Department Paco Balderrama has slammed a decision to no longer allow police and fire departments to request user’s doorbell video footage from the Amazon-owned Ring.
Ring said in a blog post on Wednesday that it will end its “Request for Assistance (RFA)” tool, meaning public safety agencies will no longer be able to request and receive video in its Neighbors app. The company did not provide a reason for the decision.
Eric Kuhn, the head of Neighbors, said in the blog post that public safety officials can still use Ring’s Neighbors app to share “helpful safety tips, updates and community events.”
However, Chief Balderrama says the decision is “highly disappointing and detrimental to the investigation of violent crimes.” In a post on social media , Chief Balderrama states that police can still access the footage through a warrant or subpoena “but that takes time.”
The decision to block first responder’s access to Ring camera footage follows a flurry of criticism and concerns from privacy advocates over the feature and the company’s partnerships with hundreds of police departments across the country.