Newtown Township, Pa - Today, the Newtown Township Police Department announced that it is joining the Neighbors app by Ring. Residents can download the free Neighbors app, join their neighborhood, and use the app to: monitor neighborhood activity; share crime and safety-related videos, photos and text-based posts; and receive real-time safety alerts from their neighbors, local law enforcement and the Ring team.
The Neighbors App by Ring is a free app designed to help communities connect and stay informed about what’s going on around them – whether they own a Ring device or not. Millions of users are working together to make neighborhoods safer for their families, friends and neighbors. When communities work together, safer neighborhoods become a reality.
Residents do not need a Ring device to participate. Anyone can download the Neighbors app to share content and receive updates sent by the Newtown Township Police Department. (Available via iOS / Android / FireOS).
This is not monitored 24 / 7 so contact 9-1-1 for all emergencies.
NEIGHBORS APP FEATURES:
- STAY INFORMED: Get real-time hyper local information about what’s going on in your community, through crime and safety alerts from users within a radius of up to 5-miles from your home.
- ALERT YOUR COMMUNITY: Post and share important crime and safety information falling into the following five categories: Criminal Activity, Suspicious Activity, Unknown Visitor, Safety and Lost Pets. You can also provide updates and inform your neighborhood when an incident has been resolved.
- CONNECT WITH NEIGHBORS: View and comment on videos, photos and text-based posts shared by local users through the Neighbors app feed.
- PERSONALIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE: Customize what alerts you receive and how often.
- PUTTING PRIVACY FIRST: Choose what content to share and control how you want engage with other users. The Neighbors app was designed to keep users in control of their private information.
- SUPPORT FROM LOCAL POLICE: In some neighborhoods, local police join the Neighbors app to engage with their communities by viewing and responding to crime and safety incidents, sharing real-time alerts to keep residents informed and requesting assistance on active investigations.
- FREE AND ACCESSIBLE: Smartphone users in the United States can join the conversation by downloading Neighbors for iOS, Neighbors for Android and Neighbors for Fire OS. Users do not have to own a Ring device to help make their neighborhoods safer.
HOW LAW ENFORCEMENT USES NEIGHBORS:
- CONNECT WITH COMMUNITY: Through clearly identified posts denoting their role, local police officers can view and comment on public Neighbors app posts within their jurisdiction to connect with and help members of the community.
- UPDATES FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES: Local police can post official updates to help their community to stay informed about issues that may potentially affect residents.
- WORK TOGETHER: Users have the option to provide helpful information if local police ask for assistance with an investigation. Users can choose whether to share videos, or opt out of future requests. This process has been designed to ensure that no user information is shared with local police unless the user chooses to do so, including whether or not they received a request.
HOW USER PRIVACY IS PROTECED:
- NO ACCESS TO DEVICES: Local police are never given access to users’ cameras or devices through Neighbors or Ring.
- NO DEVICE LOCATIONS: The Neighbors Portal does not provide local police with the addresses at which any devices are located without a user’s express consent.
- NO USER ACCOUNT INFORMATION: Users are identified in the Neighbors app posts/comments only as “Neighbor #”. Local police see the same information on Neighbors as regular users and do not receive additional information about the post, the user posting or commenting.
- NO DIRECT ACCESS TO USERS: Local police can use Neighbors to ask their community for assistance with an investigation. When they do so, users retain absolute control to determine whether they may have potentially relevant videos, whether or not they elect to share any videos, or opt out of future requests. Local police cannot see how many Ring users received a request, who declined to share, or which users opted-out of future requests.
