The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has drafted new regulations that allow it to deploy militarized robots to use lethal force on criminal suspects if necessary.
The Rules Committee of the SFPD Board of Supervisors approved them. And now is asking officials to adopt them into city ordinances.
Robot with lethal force
This new policy is part of a larger set of regulations regarding the department's use of "military-style" weapons, including semi-automatic rifles and machine guns.
The new draft follows California's approval of theAB 481, which requires all state law enforcement agencies to annually submit detailed reports on the use of their military assets. Including robots.
Needless to say, harsh criticism has already rained down on the language adopted. Especially in the passages on lethal robotic force, but not only: also for the exclusion of hundreds of assault rifles from the inventory of military weapons. To the point that the Supervisory Board itself denounced it the omission, and had also sent back the document asking for closer scrutiny.
Despite the revision, however, the gap between reality and declarations still seems wide. At least another 300 weapons would be missing from the appeal.
Opponents on a war footing (unarmed)
There is a detail that does not displace the substance (because never before in this case is the form a substance), but which still deserves emphasis.
The San Francisco Police Department is not the only department that has "concealed" certain weapons from its inventories. Others do it too: it's a way to hide their costs and maintenance from the public. Too bad that in this way it is also possible to hide their use, when not documented by citizens.
The Board Supervisor, Aaron Peskin, had initially sought to limit mechanical force using the formula: “Robots shall not be used as a use of force against any person.” The Board sent that version back to the Department. The wording has been replaced in the resubmitted draft, and now reads:
Robots will only be used as a lethal force option when the risk of loss of life to citizens or officers is imminent and exceeds any other force option available to the Department.
How can “lethal force” be used with robots by the police?
Typically police robots are remote controlled devices. They are used to handle scenarios where there are bombs, or scenarios involving assassins in sniper positions.
Has lethal force been used this way before? Yes sirs. It happened in Dallas, when authorities strapped an explosive to a robot, flew it into range of a sharpshooter and detonated it.
Remote-controlled robots can also be equipped with a PAN disruptor. Things? Long story short, it's an actual rifle loaded with a water-filled bullet. The projectile is then fired into an explosive to detonate in a controlled manner. However, a PAN unit can also use normal projectiles, the kind fired from rifles in the hands of real people.
What can go wrong?
Using non-living robots in dangerous situations seems like a smart move. This regulation actually leaves out the aspect of situational awareness: an officer at the controls of a robot will never have the same perception that he would have if he were in first person.
And this could cause all sorts of damage. For example, a robot sent into a building could shoot or explode, and even kill innocent people who are in the cameras' blind spots.
We already live in a dystopian future, where there is debate about whether police can use robots to exercise “lethal force.” Which then amounts to nothing less than executing citizens without a trial, jury or judge.
Say what you like, but this is not normal for me.
