Ring device helps law enforcement officers identify porch pirates

Surveillance video helped catch a thief attempting to steal porch decorations Thursday. The home security camera allowed the Chubbuck Police Department to quickly identify the culprit.

On Thursday morning at 6:30 a.m., surveillance video caught a woman stealing porch decorations. Before 10 a.m., she was identified and in custody.

It’s all thanks to the Ring device, a home security camera that connects with your phone, allowing homeowners to watch security footage 24 hours a day.

“It’s just kind of nice to have that peace of mind. Plus, it’s connected to my phone. So anytime someone comes to my home, even if I’m not there, I can answer and talk to them, through the doorbell, through my phone,” said Wes Crook, a Chubbuck resident.

The Ring app also connects to other Ring apps through the neighborhood. Wes, who lives just a few houses down, was notified about this incident within minutes.

If there is an incident in the neighborhood, neighbors can push that onto the app, allowing the community to see it. Posting surveillance video to social media is made easy through a downloadable link. That’s how Thursday’s thief was caught.

“We received a call from the victim at 9:30 (a.m.) and the officers that responded over there were familiar with the suspect and, upon viewing the video, they knew right away who it was,” said Chubbuck Police Chief Bill Guiberson.

Guiberson said he believes the device could reduce the number of thefts.

“By us putting this video out here, we’re basically letting people know that, if this is something you’re thinking about doing, you might want to think twice,” Guiberson said.