How Public Safety and Local Government Organizations Use Neighbors
What is Neighbors Public Safety Service?
Neighbors Public Safety Service (NPSS) is the interface that allows public safety and local government officials to connect, communicate and share hyper-local updates with their communities as verified users. With NPSS, verified users can see and comment on publicly posted content from the Neighbors App feed and share posts.
Why do local public safety and government organizations use Neighbors?
Neighbors provides local public safety and government organizations with a feature to help them better engage with and inform the communities they serve. Neighbors is a meeting place for every community member, which includes local public safety and government organizations.
How do users benefit from local public safety agencies using Neighbors?
Public safety and government users can post information about activity in the community, view and comment on public posts within their jurisdiction as a verified user.
What information do public safety and government users have access to when they use Neighbors?
Neighbors is designed to ensure that when local public safety and government organizations use Neighbors, they do not have access to user information or video recordings unless a user posts that information or video recording to the Neighbors App. Specifically:
- Device Privacy -Public safety and government users cannot access your Ring device, such as seeing your Ring device’s live video stream or otherwise controlling your Ring device.
- Video Privacy -Public safety and government users cannot view any of your Ring video recordings unless you post it to the Neighbors App.
- Account Privacy -Public safety and government users cannot see your name, contact information, location or whether you viewed a post unless you post that information to the Neighbors App.
If a local public safety or government organization starts using Neighbors, how will I know?
You may see a press release, social media posts or other external announcements if the local public safety agency chooses to post them. Additionally, users can search the Active Agency Map here to see if their local public safety or government organization is using the Neighbors App.
Where can I learn more about how local public safety and government organizations use Neighbors?
We’ve created a Neighbors Public Safety Service Help Center to help our local public safety and government users learn how to use Neighbors to communicate with residents. Anyone can view this Help Center by clicking here.
How do I request my local public safety and government organizations to start using Neighbors?
Please contact your local public safety or government organization and encourage them to contact us at publicsafety@ring.com to learn how to get involved.
How much does it cost for local public safety and government organizations to use Neighbors?
Neighbors is free for all users, including local public safety and government organizations.
If my local public safety agency is on Neighbors, do I still need to file a police report when posting a crime-related incident to the app?
Yes. Posting on the Neighbors App does not replace filing an official report. Please call your local public safety agency for more information on filing a report.
Do I need to register my camera with my local public safety agency?
Ring devices are not part of any camera registration programs. Ring does not participate in any programs that require users to register cameras with public safety as a condition of receiving or purchasing a device.
I have feedback and/or questions about how local public safety and government organization's use Neighbors, where can I send it?
We would love to hear your feedback. Please email us at publicsafety@ring.com.