Ban Local Police Partnerships with Amazon Ring
Target: Your Mayor and Local Elected Officials
Millions of people have unknowingly turned their doorbell into a cop overnight [1].
Close to 900 local police departments in the U.S. have partnered with Ring, Amazon’s video-recording doorbell [2]. The device is designed to alert customers of “suspicious activity” on their doorstep. The doorbell even has an app, Neighbors, where camera footage is solicited by local police to “fight crime.” But, what it really does is create fear and suspicion amongst community members. In cities where police have partnerships with Amazon, the footage can be used to arrest Black and brown people, who are disproportionately targeted by surveillance [3]. We must say no to police-Ring partnerships now.
As Asian Americans, we have a long history of “looking suspicious” to the American government and to our neighbors. From the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, FBI surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods after 9/11, to the coronavirus xenophobia of today, being “foreign” has been a primary narrative in justifying state violence against us [4] [5] [6]. The Model Minority Myth obscures the fact that Asian American communities are targeted by government and law enforcement agencies around immigration, terrorism, and economic espionage. As Asian American activists, we need to see police partnerships with Amazon Ring as the latest iteration of monitoring our communities.
Over 30 civil rights groups have already called for a ban on police-Ring partnerships [7]. We know the footage from Ring cameras will be used to target us. Videos of us in our communities are shared with ICE to detain and deport undocumented loved ones. Surveillance footage is used by the police to conduct facial recognition searches which can’t tell Black and brown people apart [8]. Ring videos are even used to arrest delivery workers -- doing their job -- for “stealing packages” [9]. Your local government has the power to do the right thing and ban these partnerships today.
Ring is a billion dollar deal for Amazon built on the fear of poor Black and brown people [10]. The cost in our communities is increased surveillance of delivery workers, undocumented neighbors, and Black and brown youth. Sign the petition to ban corporate-sponsored surveillance in our communities now.
Notes and Sources:
[1] Buzzfeed News
[2] The Verge
[3] Vice
[4] The New Republic
[5] The Feeling of Being Watched
[6] Washington Post
[7] Common Dreams
[9] Coworker.org
[10] ReutersSponsored by
To:
Your Mayor and Local Elected Officials
From:
[Your Name]
Amazon Ring is rapidly partnering with nearly 900 local police departments across the country. Ring, the video-recording doorbell, is a billion dollar deal for Amazon built on the fear of poor Black and brown people. The cost in our communities is increased surveillance and arrests of delivery workers, undocumented neighbors, and Black and brown youth. We do not want corporate-sponsored surveillance of our communities.
As Mayor and local elected officials, you have the power to do the right thing and ban police-Ring partnerships in our city immediately.
We know Ring footage will be used to arrest Black and brown people, who are disproportionately targeted by surveillance. Over 30 civil rights groups have already called for a ban on police-Ring partnerships.
As Asian Americans, we have a long history of “looking suspicious” to the American government and to our neighbors. From the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, FBI surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods after 9/11, to the coronavirus xenophobia of today, being “foreign” has been a primary narrative in justifying state violence against us. Amazon Ring is the latest iteration of monitoring our communities.
We demand that you act now to ban local Ring-police partnerships in our city.
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