"Is he at least sexy?" – How my Ring Doorbell got me a knock on the door from the police!

A policeman and his car and a Ring doorbell
(Image credit: Adam Juniper / Ring)

It was 17th February 2021, right in the middle of the second national Covid lockdown, and I was on the phone to my friend Kia when my Ring doorbell sounded. I would ordinarily have checked who was pressing the bell on the app, but because I was on the phone, I just ran downstairs and opened the front door.

I was quite shocked to find a policeman in uniform standing there. 'There's no need to worry,' he said. 'I just saw that you have a Ring doorbell, (consistently one of the best doorbell cameras), and wondered if you pay for the subscription for the footage?'

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Ariane Sherine
Author and journalist

Ariane Sherine is an author and journalist on many subjects including interiors, and singer-songwriter (under the artist name Ariane X). She has written for the Guardian, Times, Independent, Telegraph, Spectator, Mail, New Statesman, Esquire, NME, Sun and Metro. She regularly appears on television and radio.

She's also written comedy for the BBC and Channel 4, and is still known worldwide for the 2008 Atheist Bus Campaign, featuring adverts on buses which proclaimed 'There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life' sponsored by Richard Dawkins.

As a result, Ariane went on to edit and compile the bestselling celebrity charity anthology The Atheist's Guide to Christmas (HarperCollins). She has also written three self-help books for major publisher Hachette: Talk Yourself Better, How to Live to 100 and The How of Happy (the last two co-written with public health consultant David Conrad). Ariane's debut novel Shitcom was published in 2021, and is a hilarious body swap comedy. Her latest book is the biography The Real Sinéad O'Connor by White Owl Books.

TOPICS