The partnership went into effect on Oct. 17 and the app “Neighbors” is free to download and free to use for the whole community. While the registration for the app requires to submit your location and name all posts made in the app are anonymous.
“As part of Chief Sauceda’s initiative to innovate and modernize the department, the Brownsville Police Department has now leveraged the ‘Neighbors Law Enforcement Portal’ sponsored by Ring, a free social media app, free to download and free to use,” Melissa Gonzalez, public information officer for BPD, said. “The app allows anyone, not just people with Ring devices, to share, view and comment on crime and security information as it relates to our city.”
Gonzalez said the app is set to target theft and burglary crimes but it has the potential to go beyond solving those types of crimes. She added it depends on how active the community engages with the police department.
“For the most part the Neighbors social media app is set to target theft, crimes or burglary crimes but it has the potential to go beyond solving those types of crimes, it just depends on how active the community engages with us through the neighbor’s app, it also allows us to engage with the community as well because it allows us to put out information such as alerts, maybe something that’s going on in the neighborhood, or information about safety in general,” she said.
Gonzalez said the police department will only have access to the information shared by the users and will not actively monitor the user’s property. She added the app will allow the police department to communicate with users.
“It is anonymous … the only content that we’re able to view is the information that the users of the app decide to post publicly, so, we don’t have access to any live streamed video and we cannot actively monitor the user’s property,” she said.
“The ‘Neighbors Law Enforcement Portal’ allows us to communicate with the users and it allows us to request video in the event that it is needed and the users can decline any request and are in no way required to provide any recordings, so they can decline at any time, they’re not obligated to provide the video.”
The police department can view, post and respond to crime and safety related information on the Neighbors app but will not be monitored by law enforcement 24/7.
“As with any social media app, this app is not intended to replace the emergency response system, so anyone who is a victim of or witness to a crime should call 911 or the local police department and for emergency situations you should always call 911,” she said.
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Posted: Sunday, October 27, 2019 9:30 pm
Photo: Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald
