The Frankfort Fire Department announced it has joined the free Neighbors app by Ring to provide the Frankfort community with real-time safety information. The Neighbors network already has millions of users and has been instrumental in catching package thieves, stopping burglaries, and keeping neighborhoods safe.
According to Ring: “The Neighbors App uses your address to create a radius around your home. If anyone shares an alert on the app about crime or safety within that radius, you’ll get a notification on your phone and tablet. Conversely, if you share an alert on the app about a crime or safety issue in your radius, your neighbors will also get a notification on their phones and tablets. You can then comment on these alerts to provide additional information about local issues, give tips to avoid affected areas, share photos or videos to help neighbors stay on the lookout, etc.”
“You can narrow your radius to only focus on hyper-local issues. Or if you live in a more rural location, you can expand your radius to include nearby communities and landmarks.”
The app is a free “virtual neighborhood watch” that does not require users to have a doorbell camera but will allow all residents to view publicly posted videos and photos without compromising anyone’s privacy.
To get started, download the free Neighbors app from your device application store, join your neighborhood, and use the app to monitor neighborhood activity, share crime and safety-related videos, photos and text-based posts, and receive real-time safety alerts from their neighbors, local public safety and the Ring team.
According to Frankfort Fire Department Chief John Kirby, “We are grateful for the opportunity to join the Neighbors app. This is a great communication tool that we can use to notify the community about fires, share safety information, and request information from the public.”
One’s participation in “Neighbors by Ring” does not grant public safety officers access to cameras or user data. Public Safety departments can only view content residents have publicly posted to the Neighbors app or that they have decided to share with public safety in response to a specific request.
“Joining the Neighbors app by Ring allows our fire department to connect to the community in a new way. Residents do not need to own a Ring device or any other home security system in order to download and use the Neighbors app. Our use of the Neighbors app will strengthen and enhance fire investigations, information sharing, and community partnerships,” added Frankfort Fire Department Assistant Chief Ed Cripe,
The Neighbors app is available for free on iOS, Android, and FireOS devices. For more information about the Neighbors app, visit www.ring.com/neighbors.
