San Francisco police robots may have a license to kill

A decision to be taken on November 29, 2022 could impact the entire world (or at least countries with military power) regarding the use of electronic weapons. The robots of san francisco police may receive a license to kill in cases where there is a risk to the lives of authorities or a large number of people.

The idea is being seen with great revulsion by public opinion and opens the debate: what is the next step for this? Can a big revolution happen in the world of security? Understand the case right now.

Decision will be taken at the end of November 2022

The City of San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee has again revised a policy on the use of crime-fighting equipment. The discussion about robots already used to defuse bombs to gain the license to kill is somewhat controversial due to the simple fact that the strength of a robot is much greater than that of a person.

The rule that will be discussed is about situations where lethal force is the only option to save people in an extremely dangerous situation. Advisers will decide whether San Francisco police robots can then be given an "upgrade" that would allow shots to be fired from afar without endangering victims' lives.

Currently, the SFPD (San Francisco Police Department) has 17 remote controlled robots and 12 of them are active. If approved, the document with new rules for the use of these devices will also allow “training and simulations, criminal apprehensions, critical incidents, demanding circumstances, execution of a warrant or during evaluations of suspicious devices”.

In practice, it is as if the San Francisco Police robots gained knowledge and mainly equipment to behave in situations that require lethal force (murder of suspects). It is true that the current equipment used is capable of defusing bombs and/or dealing with hazardous materials, but it is worth remembering that those manufactured by Remotec have an optional weapon system. The F5A model has an attachment called the PAN Disruptor, which carries a 12-round shotgun.

The technology has always been available, but until now, the possibility of using it has never been authorized.

Robot was used in critical situation in 2016

If the new rule passes, this wouldn't be the first time we've seen remotely controlled robots used to kill. In 2016, Dallas police caused an explosion that killed the suspect in causing a massacre and killing 16 people, five of them police officers, in the Texas state capital. The case took place on the night of July 09th and the suspect was killed the next day, in the morning.

The mayor of Dallas said at the time that no bullets were used to hit the unnamed suspect. David Brown, head of the Dallas Police, mentioned that he used the remote-controlled robot to prevent the other members of his team from taking risks.

We saw no option but to use our robot bomb and place a device on its extension to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed our officers to great danger. The suspect died as a result of the bomb detonating.

David Brown, Chief of Dallas Police.

To this day, it is not known which device activated the bomb and killed the shooting suspect. Another known case is that of the Police of Saint Joseph, in California. In April 2015, experts managed to prevent a man from committing suicide by delivering food and a telephone.

There is indeed the possibility of robots being a good addition to public safety, but this can also open up possibilities for injustices to happen. It is something that needs to be released with great caution and all points need to be reviewed.

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Sources: Tech Crunch l The Verge l Vox