Request for Assistance - Policy

All Request for Assistance posts are reviewed and moderated by the Ring team. Public safety agencies must agree to the following additional guidelines prior to creating a Request for Assistance post:

1. Request for Assistance posts are published publicly to Neighbors.
2. Request for Assistance posts may not be used:
• to intentionally gather information about lawful activities, such as protests.
• for general announcements, public service announcements or events.
3. Request for Assistance posts must contain:
• information referencing an active investigation, specifically, the type of incident being investigated.
• a valid agency reference number for an active investigation.
• public agency user contact information including an email address or phone number. 
• relevant date/time range for the information sought. The date/time range of the request must be at least 15 minutes and cannot exceed 12 hours. (Individual Ring videos typically do not exceed one minute in length, and only Ring videos selected by the user captured during the requested time frame will be shared).
• the geographic area, based on the incident location, in which the information is sought. The geographic area must be at least 0.025 square miles and cannot exceed 0.5 square miles.
4. Request for Assistance posts may not contain:
• hate speech, racial profiling or other forms of prejudice.
• referring to a person you are describing solely by their race
• content which would harass, threaten, intimidate or incite violence.
• personally identifiable information of crime victims, including victims of sexual assault or domestic violence. Missing or abducted persons may be identified if the information may assist in locating or recovering the victim.
• language which appears to threaten or pressure customers to provide information.
5. Request for Assistance posts are limited to two (2) posts per incident/case.
6. Once published by a public agency user, the user may not edit or delete a Request for Assistance post.

Violation of this policy may result in temporarily suspending or permanently banning any user or agency. Please visit our Terms of Service for more information.

*Only public safety agencies are able to make Request for Assistance posts.*

To learn more about privacy for Request for Assistance posts, click here.