San Francisco approves police use of robots to kill suspects

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San Francisco recently approved a controversial policy allowing the use of military force when there is an imminent risk of loss of public or police life and no other option of force is available.robotto kill suspects, and in extreme cases even deploy Robots loaded with explosives.

San Francisco approves police use of robots to kill suspects

A San Francisco police spokesman said robots can now be equipped with explosives to reach suspects in extreme situations, incapacitating violent, armed or dangerous suspects to save or prevent further threats to innocent lives. They also said the robot would only be used in extreme circumstances and only a few senior officials could authorize its use.
It is understood that the San Francisco Police Department currently has 17 robots, of which 12 are in operation. The machines broadly fall into two categories: large and medium-sized tracking robots designed to remotely inspect or detonate explosives, and smaller robots designed to be dropped into targeted areas for reconnaissance and surveillance. All robots owned by the San Francisco Police Department are designed to be operated primarily by humans, with limited autonomous capabilities.

In fact, U.S. police departments have long used remote-controlled robots to kill suspects, with the first such incident believed to have occurred in 2016 when the Dallas Police Department used an explosive device attached to a robot to kill a suspect who Participated in an attack that resulted in the death of five police officers.

The action was praised by some for quickly ending the hours-long standoff and criticized by others, who said police executed the suspects without exhausting other options. The police chief at the time “believed there was no other option but to use the bomb robot, place a device on its extension cord, and let it detonate where the suspect was.”

The San Francisco policy passed in an 8-3 vote after two hours of debate, AP News reported.

The proposal has been criticized by many civil rights groups. The electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says this is typical police-military mission creep, where hardware developed for war zones is deployed to civilians.

Police departments elsewhere in the country have rejected similar proposals, such as the one in Oakland that initially approved the use of robots to kill suspects remotely but later reversed the decision without explanation.

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