Topline
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a measure Tuesday banning police from using robots to kill crime suspects, after legislation it passed last week allowing for killer robots “when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent” drew widespread backlash and brought renewed national attention to robots in policing.
Proponents say letting armed robots confront dangerous crime suspects could save police officers’ … [+]
Key Facts
The board voted 8-3 to prohibit the use of deadly robots–a reversal of its 8-3 vote last week to allow them–but it will let its Rules Committee submit a revised policy on the matter if it chooses.
The change of heart was unusual since the secondary votes that the board is required to take on ordinances are often rubber stamps following an initial vote of support, but last week’s move prompted outcry from progressives who found it to be a dangerous expansion of police power, leading to protests outside of City Hall.
Proponents argue allowing robots with explosives to engage with dangerous suspects, like mass shooters, is a common-sense way to protect the lives of law enforcement officers in extreme situations.
San Francisco police will still be allowed to use the dozen unarmed ground robots they reportedly own to investigate dangerous situations under the policy.
Chief Critic
Killer robots will not make San Francisco safer,” the ACLU of Northern California tweeted. “Police kill Black and Brown people at epidemic rates, and remote triggers are easier to pull.”
Contra
“If the police are called to serve in a situation where someone intends to do harm or is already doing harm to innocent people, and there is technology that can help to end the violence and save lives, we need to allow police to use these tools to save lives,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) wrote in a statement to the New York Times.
Key Background
The use of killer police robots became a serious public policy issue in 2016, when Dallas police deployed a robot armed with a bomb to end a standoff with a sniper who had killed five police officers. Most jurisdictions around the country do not have explicit guidelines around the use of deadly robots, leaving police departments on their own to determine whether to use one under broad use of force policies. Still, the use of robots to incapacitate suspects remains extremely rare, and law enforcement offices that explore utilizing them often face heavy criticism. The New York Police Department, for instance, cut a lease short last year on a robotic dog designed to confront dangerous crime suspects after uproar over its supposedly dystopian characteristics—especially its resemblance to killer robot dogs in the 2017 “Metalhead” episode of Netflix’s Black Mirror. California police departments are required to get public approval before using any killer robots under a new state law regulating police use of military-grade weapons, leading to last week’s Board of Supervisors vote.
Further Reading
S.F. halts ‘killer robots’ police policy after huge backlash — for now (San Francisco Chronicle)
Meet the Remotec Andros Mark V-A1, the robot that killed the Dallas shooter (Washington Post)
N.Y.P.D. Robot Dog’s Run Is Cut Short After Fierce Backlash (New York Times)
US police rarely deploy deadly robots to confront suspects (Associated Press)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/12/06/san-francisco-says-cops-cant-use-killer-robots-after-public-outcry-for-now/