Ring has announced that it will be expanding its Community Requests feature for public safety agencies in the United States. Community Requests is a tool that lets local public safety agencies ask for help with investigations by reaching out to people in the area who use Ring products. The idea is to help agencies gather information and evidence when something has happened in a neighborhood.
This new phase of expansion will include public safety agencies that use Flock Safety’s Nova platform or FlockOS. These are platforms that many agencies use to help with collecting evidence and managing investigations. Ring says it will also look to work with other providers in the future. The goal is to give more agencies access to Community Requests, making it easier for them to ask local residents for help when they need it.
When an agency wants to send out a Community Request through Flock Nova or FlockOS, they have to follow a set process. Each request must include the location and timeframe for the incident, a special investigation code, and clear details about what the agency is looking into. The request is then securely sent to Ring, which then notifies users in the area.
Ring stresses that privacy is a main concern. Participation in the program by users is completely optional. And we think this is a great choice. Agencies do not get to see who gets a notification or who decides not to respond, and people can choose not to take part at any time. Users can also turn off these notifications if they do not want to receive them.
The company says that by joining community safety efforts with privacy protections, Community Requests lets people help out in their neighborhoods while keeping control of their own information. The expansion means more agencies will be able to use this tool, which Ring hopes will help keep more neighborhoods safe. The rollout of this new access to Community Requests for Flock Nova and FlockOS users is set to happen in the coming months.
Ring says it wants to empower communities to take part in public safety efforts. The company’s main message is that safety is a shared goal, and that giving people the option to help with investigations can make a difference. For those who want more information about how Community Requests works or how privacy is handled, Ring has more details on its website.
