Get away from the door. From catching thieves in the act to cute kids on the front porch. I love you. to solving kidnappings, doorbell cameras have gone viral. Now some cities are partnering with Amazon to distribute its Ring cameras at a discount to deter crime. The Wolcott Connecticut Police Department says the cameras have already solved three burglaries. Whether it's an inner city, whether it's a rural area people want to be safe in their own homes. Police have no access to watch the cameras live. Amazon Ring says the footage remains in the cloud for two months controlled by the homeowner who remains anonymous. If a crime occurs police ask Ring to ask the homeowners if they'd share the video.
But some privacy advocates warn more surveillance will unfairly impact minorities. We've already seen in the past several years a lot of high profile instances of people policing black folks and brown folks who they don't think belong in their neighborhoods. Still Washington DC offers rebate checks to homeowners who register their cameras. These are good citizens that really want to be able to help and so they'll provide video footage if there's something of interest on their cameras. No different than cameras on street poles gas stations and police body cams say advocates. Someone is always watching.