Police in one city are using Ring Doorbells to monitor video livestreams

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While everyone in the US is focused on presidential election results, Jackson, Mississippi is trialing a program that would allow local police to tap into their Ring cameras in an effort to monitor *waves vaguely* crime.

The trial program was approved on Monday and will allow local law enforcement to tap into camera systems like Ring Doorbells and view livestream footage through Jackson’s Real Time Crime Center. The 45-day pilot program is starting off small, with five city-owned and five volunteer private cameras being monitored. That said, if the trial is successful, citizens could be encouraged to add their cameras to the state surveillance web.

READ MORE: Ring is giving your camera footage to police without a warrant

I don’t need to tell you how gross this is. Sure, these cameras are owned by the city and volunteers, but the people being monitored didn’t sign up for this. It would be one thing if the cameras were monitoring their own homes and businesses, but Ring Doorbells point out to the street, meaning neighbors, delivery drivers, and just random pedestrians could be monitored by local law enforcement.

The report notes that police wouldn’t access the livestream footage until a crime is reported, but c’mon, considering current events, are we really ok with holding the police to an honor system?

Amazon’s Ring is no stranger to controversy surrounding law enforcement, and this is just the latest feather in its cap.

What do you think? How do you feel about this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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