It’s not Batman or Superman, but police departments throughout the Chicago suburbs and northwest Indiana have a new crime-fighting partner: Amazon.
Department officials said their partnerships with the company’s Ring unit, which sells home security systems, most notably the glowing combination doorbell and camera, are already helping them investigate crimes. Partnerships have been established with police departments around the region including Naperville, Aurora, Elgin, Palos Heights, Skokie, Lincolnwood, and Hammond. Others, such as the Lake County Sheriff’s Department, are still considering the proposal.
Ring and its companion app, Neighbors, enables owners of both Ring and non-Ring security systems, or anyone who might have taken video on a cellphone, to share them online and comment on images.
Police, through their partnerships with Ring, in many cases established just months ago, can use the app to send out community alerts, and also seek out privately owned videos that could be used in criminal investigations. Police, however, don’t have unfettered access to videos.
Read more from the Daily Southtown here.
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