With military-style weapons, no less, the San Francisco Police Department has filed a proposal to city officials that is likely to be approved on November 29 and would permit robots to use deadly force against individuals who pose a threat to the lives of residents or police officers.
Robots will only be utilized as a deadly force option, according to the robot usage policy, when the risk of officer or member of the public death outweighs all other forms of force that are at the San Francisco Police Department’s disposal.
A draft of the proposal was unanimously adopted by San Francisco’s rules committee last week. It will now go before the Board of Supervisors on November 29 and is expected to be approved. The purchase of any new military-style equipment would also require Board approval, but the police will be allowed to replace current equipment up to a value of $10 million without needing permission.
According to an email from Tifanei Moyer, senior staff attorney of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, as reported by Mission Local, the policy isn’t typical and people should oppose it.
12 of the 17 robots in the San Francisco Police Department’s inventory are fully operational. Officer Robert Rueca, a police spokesperson, claims that they have never been utilized in an assault. That seems to be about to alter. It will only be a matter of time before a robot kills a suspect if the policy is authorized as anticipated.
