Amazon just deepened its surveillance footprint with a new deal that lets Ring camera owners share footage directly with police through Flock Safety's law enforcement platform. The partnership comes as communities nationwide debate rising crime levels and the role of private surveillance in public safety, with Ring footage now flowing into systems used by 5,000 police agencies.
Amazon Ring cameras are about to become a much bigger part of police investigations. The company's new partnership with surveillance tech firm Flock Safety creates a direct pipeline from millions of doorbell cameras to law enforcement databases, marking Ring's most ambitious push into police work yet.
The deal lets Ring owners voluntarily share footage through Flock's FlockOS platform, which already serves an estimated 6,000 communities and 5,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide. When police need video evidence from a crime scene, they can now ping Ring cameras in the area through what's called Community Requests - and homeowners decide whether to share.
"For me, it is clear and obvious we have a crime problem in America," Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley told CNBC. "Being able to partner with them will lead to much safer communities, and doing it in a way that allows the public to opt in."
It's Ring's second major law enforcement partnership in recent months, following a similar deal with Axon Enterprise, the taser and body camera company. Both deals represent a strategic shift for Amazon's home security division, which has faced years of privacy criticism and regulatory scrutiny.
The timing couldn't be more politically charged. A recent AP poll found two-thirds of Americans consider crime a major problem, with that number jumping to 81% in cities. Tech CEOs and political leaders are increasingly calling for aggressive law enforcement measures, creating a receptive environment for surveillance partnerships.
But this isn't Ring's first rodeo with police collaboration. The company shuttered its previous Ring Request for Assistance program in 2024 after it was used by at least 2,500 police agencies, according to Consumer Reports. Privacy advocates had criticized that system for lacking proper security controls.
