Also on the list: 17 robots, five of which are out of order, according to police. The robots were acquired between 2010 and 2017, police said, and include heavy duty models that can climb stairs, robots with tank steps that can defuse bombs and a small robot that can instantly provide a video and audio feed.
Police said none of its robots were “equipped with lethal force options and the department has no plans to equip robots with any type of firearm.”
But “robots could potentially be fitted with explosive charges to breach reinforced structures containing violent, armed or dangerous subjects or be used to apprehend violent, armed or dangerous suspects who pose a risk of death to law enforcement or other first responders,” the department said in a statement. a statement.
The department added: “Robots equipped in this way would only be used in extreme circumstances to save or prevent further loss of innocent life.”
The policy put forward by the board states that robots “will only be used as a lethal force option when the risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and officers are unable to contain the threat after using alternative force options or de-escalation tactics. options or conclude that they cannot contain the threat after evaluating alternative force options and de-escalation tactics.
Only the police chief, assistant chief of operations or deputy chief of special operations could authorize the use of lethal force by robots, the policy said.
Opponents said the policy was dangerous and could lead to more police brutality.
Robots create a “false distance that makes killing the individual easier,” said Hillary Ronen, a city supervisor who voted against the policy. “We don’t want it to be easy. We don’t want to create that distance and that removal from the emotional impact of killing, of taking someone’s life.”
