San Francisco police will be able to use remote-controlled robots. The city's board of supervisors last night approved a controversial policy that allows police robots to be used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent.
Sky News reported that the San Francisco Police Department has no plans to arm its machines. In order to save or prevent further loss of innocent lives, the department can now equip its robot with explosives.
There are 17 robots owned by the SFPD. The machines can be divided into two categories: large and medium-size tracked robots used to remotely examine or blow up explosives, and smaller bots designed to be thrown into target areas for espionage. The robots owned by the SFPD are mostly operated by humans.
In the US, police departments use remote-controlled robots to kill suspects. The first such incident is thought to have taken place in Dallas in 2016 when police used a bomb disposal robot to kill a man who had killed five officers. The action was praised for ending an hours-long standoff and for allowing the police to execute a suspect without exhausting other options. Dallas police chief David Brown said at the time that they had no other choice but to use a bomb robot and place a device on its extension to blow up the suspect.
The policy was debated for two hours before being approved. The supervisor said those against the policy may start looking to the public like they are anti- police. The president of the board who voted against the proposal was pro people of color.
"We are constantly being asked to do things in the name of increasing weaponry and opportunities for negative interaction between the police department and people of color." It's just one of those things.
The proposal was opposed by many groups. The EFF said it was typical of police-military mission creep, the process by which hardware developed for use in war zones is used against civilians. The EFF said in a post that they have already seen this with military-grade drones flying over protests and police buzzing by the window of an activist's home.
Similar proposals have been rejected by police departments. The Oakland police department initially approved the use ofrobots to kill suspects, but later reversed its decision. According to a report from The Intercept, officers discussed the possibility of giving a robot a shotgun shell.
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