Ring doorbell program could catch criminals right at your front door

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Local lawmakers are pushing to make Winnebago County neighborhoods safer. On Saturday morning, county board member Burt Gerl hosted the first Ring doorbell camera giveaway.

Doorbell videos are being used more and more in recent years to catch people who are committing crimes. As the cameras catch anything that’s going on outside the house at all times of the day. Residents in county districts 4, 10, 11 and 15 have been able to register since mid-November.

Gerl says the hope is to make this initiative county wide in the future.

“We think with this push with the free ring doorbell program with the neighbors app, that we can actually get people that want to be involved and are sick of seeing crime in the cities and especially in their neighborhoods, so criminals will go somewhere else,” said Gerl.

The sheriffs department is playing a critical role in this giveaway. Those with the doorbells can share video directly with law enforcement, making it easier to catch criminals.

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