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It sends cops scripted talking points to publish on social media and canned outreach messages to post on Neighbors. The company also asks police departments to sign confidential agreements, which often include a clause promising not to issue public statements about Ring before they are first vetted by Ring itself. “The relationship between the company and the police departments doesn’t necessarily seem to be completely about public safety,” says Dave Maass, a senior investigative researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “They seem to be enlisting law enforcement in a sort of sales role. ”When police departments go even slightly off script, Ring pushes back. In April, the Bloomfield Police Department in New Jersey announced it was partnering with Ring and published a press release on social media that, according to documents obtained from another public records request, appeared to be almost entirely written by the company. The only parts that weren’t taken from Ring directly were quotes attributed to Bloomfield’s mayor, Michael Venezia, and its public safety director, Samuel DeMaio. Still, a member of Ring’s public relations team emailed the department after its announcement, asking for several corrections to be made, like ensuring Ring was always capitalized and its Neighbors app was mentioned by name. Once a police department has access to Ring’s portal, officers can use it to request video footage from local Ring camera owners. The request email uses a template largely written by Ring, although police specify the time frame and geographic area they are looking for, as well as add a custom message. Police don’t need to obtain a warrant to send a request, and citizens aren’t under any legal obligation to hand over their recordings.