On a Monday afternoon in late June, two women were outside on the 500 block of Gridley Avenue in Akron, Ohio, when they were shot. Moments earlier, three young men pulled up in a silver Ford Taurus, exited the vehicle, and opened fire before driving away, according to local media accounts. More than 40 shell casings were recovered, reports say, with bullets striking several vehicles and homes. One of the victims, a 65-year-old woman, said she was shot in the shoulder while sitting on her porch. “I’ve lived here for 41 years and I can’t even sit on my porch anymore,” she told 19 News in Cleveland.
The next day, there was another shooting just over a mile away, also involving multiple young men in a vehicle. In both cases, the incidents were recorded by Ring video doorbells and the footage was shared with the police department and local television news stations.
There have been no arrests so far. The Akron Police Department, however, says it is always looking for opportunities to use video doorbells — which are motion activated devices that record both movement and audio — along with other technologies, to help solve cases like these.
Coincidentally, the week of the June shootings, the Akron City Council announced a pilot program to give away 460 video doorbells from Ring — owned by Amazon — to residents in targeted neighborhoods with high crime rates in an effort to reduce or deter crime. Those residents who participate must agree to turn over any recorded video to police if asked.
About 6,800 Akron residents were eligible for the doorbells as of June, according to The Akron Beacon Journal. Some of them live in or around so-called hot spots, which are highly trafficked places where crimes occur more frequently. Hot spots can account for up to 50 percent of reported crime in some cities even though they are only a small footprint of the total area.
Nearly a month after the Akron program was revealed, the northwestern Louisiana city of Shreveport announced a similar program offering free Ring cameras to residents or homeowners.
Akron and Shreveport are joining a growing number of cities where authorities buy Ring video doorbells and offer them to residents free or offer a rebate. In 2019, more than 400 police departments partnered with Ring. As of the end of November, that number is more than 2,600 police departments, along with almost 600 fire departments and more than 70 local government agencies.
The partnerships enable…
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