Ring says it didn’t pay for the doorbells given out in El Monte, and the police department did not return a request for comment. Ring’s partnerships with law enforcement have come under growing scrutiny in recent months, as media reports have raised questions about their lack of transparency and potential for privacy abuses. Ring argues that its products can drastically reduce crime in communities, but critics have questioned the grounds for those claims. Others accuse the Neighbors app, and similar apps like Citizen, of creating an ersatz surveillance state and stoking fears at a time when crime rates are at historic lows. The company’s motion activated doorbells may capture innocent activities of people who live nearby, like someone walking down a public street. Earlier this week, the digital rights group Fight for the Future launched a new campaign asking citizens to demand their local police departments end their relationship with the company. Ring has sought to tightly control how police officials portray their partnerships with the company, as both Gizmodo and Motherboard have reported. It sends cops scripted talking points to publish on social media and canned outreach messages to post on Neighbors. The company also asks police departments to sign confidential agreements, which often include a clause promising not to issue public statements about Ring before they are first vetted by Ring itself. “The relationship between the company and the police departments doesn’t necessarily seem to be completely about public safety,” says Dave Maass, a senior investigative researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “They seem to be enlisting law enforcement in a sort of sales role.