Jackson residents are sounding the alarm over the potential loss of privacy in a pilot doorbell camera surveillance program beginning this year in their city.
The 12-month Eyes on the Block pilot program will partner up to 100 residents and small-business owners with local police using footage from Ring doorbell cameras. Participants get a free doorbell camera and one-year subscription to Ring.
Mara MacKay, a Jackson resident, isn’t so sure she wants to sign away her privacy to Ring, an Amazon company, to work with local police.
“I’m smack in the middle of this,” MacKay said. “I’m neutral right now. I just want to learn more.”
She said she’s heard reports of Ring employees allegedly accessing video footage without permission from customers.
Then, when Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of NBC News Anchor Savannah Guthrie, disappeared earlier this year, MacKay said the investigation raised more flags around doorbell security. Law enforcement officials in Arizona were able to tap into Guthrie’s doorbell camera footage from Google, even though her subscription had expired.
MacKay also said the controversy surrounding Ring’s Super Bowl commercial made her hesitant. The commercial, which promoted tapping into doorbell cameras across a neighborhood to find a lost dog, sparked online conversations about privacy.
The city is paying for the program, which has a $50,000 price tag, out of its General Fund budget.
Jackson’s General Fund budget totals nearly $33 million. Among other things, the fund pays for elections, public safety, maintaining the city’s streetlights and cemeteries, economic development projects, and city parks.
Second Ward Councilman Freddie Dancy supports the program because participants would be able to assist police without leaving their homes.
“It’s safer for the people in the community,” Dancy told WKAR News before a Feb. 19 informational meeting for residents interested in the program.
Even after the meeting, MacKay wasn’t ready to sign on the dotted line.
“I came tonight to find out the answers to the questions I asked,” she said. “It looks like it’s new to them, so they’re going to look into things further. I don’t like to jump into something without knowing all the details.”
Nearly 70 people have already signed up for the program.
Jackson will test Eyes on the Block in the first and second wards, which encompass much of the city’s south and east sides.
Council members and other city leaders have provided facts and addressed privacy concerns through community meetings and promotional materials.
Leaders informed residents that participation is strictly voluntary and anonymous, unless participants choose not to be anonymous. And police won’t reach out to participants unless they need help solving a crime.
Police also won’t monitor cameras or be able to access video footage without first getting permission from the camera’s owner.
“From then on, it’s up to the residents if they want to participate or submit footage or not submit footage,” said Christina Crouch, the city’s communications manager. “We are legally bound to protecting privacy and civil rights.”
Jackson’s Eyes on the Block is not the first program of its kind in Michigan.
Dearborn approved a five-year $50,000 contract in 2025 for a similar surveillance program.
Kalamazoo also funded and agreed to place 200 doorbell cameras around the city in 2022 to increase security.
In addition, at least 14 Michigan police departments, including Detroit, Troy and Waterford, have partnered with Ring, allowing them to request information for investigations.
Jackson council members peppered City Manager Jonathan Greene with questions before unanimously approving the program in November.
Sixth Ward Councilmember Will Forgrave questioned how difficult it would be for police to obtain video footage from participants.
Forgrave also said he didn’t want the city to violate anyone’s Fourth Amendment rights, which protect people from unreasonable government searches and seizures. He's also worried about data security.
First Ward Councilmember Arlene Robinson wondered if the police department would have a right to the information because the city was purchasing the cameras.
She hesitated to support the program, but ultimately, she voted in favor of it after learning that participation was truly voluntary.
“I did change my mind,” she said. “The sharing of the footage is voluntary, so residents don’t have to share, and if they don’t share, the police department doesn’t get it.”
Robinson said people in her ward were interested in participating in the program, so she didn’t want to deter them.
“People also complained a lot about the crime. There are people who have had unfortunate incidents in their families, and they were all for it,” she said.
Jerri Nees, a resident, has already signed up.
She said she’d like police to catch the people who are spray painting cars, peeping into houses, breaking windows, and checking for unlocked doors in her neighborhood.
“I think it’s been a long time coming for the neighborhoods that once used to be great,” she said. “They’re being run down by criminals coming in, and a lot of times we don’t even see who they are, or they get away with stuff, and we need to keep our neighborhood safe.”
In 2025, Jackson police reported 4,727 incidents, including three murders, 18 robberies, 81 auto thefts, 105 forced burglaries, 186 cases of aggravated assault, 227 cases of retail fraud and 251 hit-and-run cases involving vehicles.
Council members plan to review the program next year, Crouch said. If they discover it helped deter, detect and solve crimes, they may expand it into the city’s four other wards, using money in the General Fund to pay for it.
The council did not discuss how much it might cost to expand the program.
The city isn’t just focused on public safety issues to develop neighborhoods. City Council has put General Fund dollars toward a 100 Homes initiative, which provides residents with down payment assistance of up to $50,000.
Last year, council members also approved a $50,000 contract with Accelerate Jackson County to support marketing properties, business retention, site redevelopment and other improvements.
The Jackson City Council will review the Eyes on the Block’s effectiveness in 2027.
“We’re hoping that this will help deter crime and prevent it in the area, that we’ll see a significant increase in reported crime," Crouch said.
The city will begin installing the Ring doorbell cameras this May.