Should you provide your doorbell surveillance video to police?

Tis the season of porch piracy, and one of the best ways to catch a thief is with a doorbell camera. Countless criminals have been nabbed thanks to the handy video that captures movement 24/7 on Ring, Nest, Arlo and a few other surveillance doorbell cams.

How does it work?

Police and surveillance cam doorbell owners can join virtual town-watch communities, such as “Neighbors by Ring,” operated by Amazon. It had 10 million active users in 2020, according to Consumer Reports. If there’s a report of a crime in your neighborhood, and police launch an investigation, they can send you a request for your video. In 2023, Ring has 2,500 police agencies, 570 fire departments, and a dozen local government agencies in the program, CR reports. It’s quite active. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the agencies partnering in the program sent surveillance doorbell owners nearly 6,000 request for video.

What if police send a request for your video?

It’s up to you whether you want to hand it over, but if you turn them down, law enforcement has other means to obtain it.

“The police always have the option of obtaining a search warrant,” said Ron Elgart, longtime Bucks County defense lawyer in Langhorne. “But generally speaking most people with these things — and I’ve seen enough of them in discovery with criminal cases I have — the homeowners are more than happy to say, 'hey, here it is, and no problem.' And there is no problem.”

What's my liability if I hand over my video to police?

There isn’t any, said Elgart. Once you step onto someone’s private property (or “curtilage” as lawyers say), all bets are off for the trespasser who is picked up on a doorbell video committing a crime.

“If you’re filming outside your door, you’re not invading anyone’s privacy, and if you’re filmed on a public street, there’s never been any protection for someone who’s doing things in public.”

Is it helpful to police, or is it a fishing expedition?

Helpful, said Chief Joseph Bartorilla of the Middletown Police Department.

“We do use Ring, Nest or any other outside or inside video when the homeowner shares it with us,” he said. “We do not have a formal registry program like some (police departments) do. But we have used Ring in the past to solve a porch pirate case in Laurel Oaks, as a matter of fact.”

Said Elgart: “It’s not only doorbells. There are surveillance cameras everywhere. Shopping malls, parking lots. The cameras people have in their cars. I generally advise my clients to turn away from crime because there are too many ways to get caught. Between doorbell cameras and cameras everywhere, and cellphone tracking, the chances of doing really good crime are out the window these days.”

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jdmullane@couriertimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: What to do if police ask for your Ring doorbell video?