San Francisco Approves Combative Robots That Can Kill In Specific Situations
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has just passed a movement allowing armed robots to step into the line of action and exert force or harm when necessary.
The Board of Supervisors consented to the new law after it was petitioned last week. It approved it in a landslide vote that ended in eight VS three, despite opposition from civil liberties groups.
For better or worse, this means that “killer robots” are now a go.
Under this ruling, bots will be allowed to kill suspects under specific circumstances. However, they can be used as a deadly force only if there is a risk of loss of life to members of the department or the public and if all other options outweigh the choice to deploy the droids.
Currently, the police force has 17 bots that provide video evidence and defuse bombs. While the SFPD does not intend to fit them with any weapons, they can be employed with explosives attached.
The board stated that the droids could only be used when all alternative forces had been exhausted. And even then, only a limited number of high-ranking officials will be authorized to use them as deadly force.
.@SFPD asks @sfgov supes for OK to deploy existing robots to potentially kill (via explosive charges) in dire cases. @RafaelMandelman @AaronPeskin support it. Not @HillaryRonen & @DeanPreston, decrying any use of “killer robots.” @mguariglia @EFF speaks out. 5:10,6,7 p.m. @KTVU pic.twitter.com/REOitDQimN
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) November 30, 2022
This does open up the discussion about the escalation of police brutality, which has been at the forefront of public debate and concern for several years. It’s hard to imagine placing the lives of innocents and even criminals in the hands of a computer system that cannot weigh out justice in the way that a human can.
Rafael Mandelman, who voted for using the move, told FOX KTVU that it was irresponsible not to use robots in life-threatening situations.
The Associated Press gives an instance of the first use of armed robots back in 2016 when a droid decked out in explosives was sent in to kill a holed-up sniper who had murdered five officers in an ambush.
On the flip side, one of the voters, Dean Preston, who opposed the movement, spoke out about how Black and Brown lives could now be even more at risk with the weaponization of droids.
Today’s vote approving the SFPD’s dystopian military equipment policy—which will allow SFPD to use robots to kill people—is deeply disturbing. This is a sad moment for our City, and it shows how far we have strayed from the 2020 reckoning on police violence. Here's my statement. pic.twitter.com/gFLllm3xvF
— Dean Preston (@DeanPreston) November 30, 2022
According to the same report, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office has sent a letter to the board saying that the movement goes against the city’s progressive values and it wants the council to bar police from using robots.
[via Engadget and AP News, cover photo 56509297 © Rafael Ben Ari | Dreamstime.com]
