San Francisco officials ban police robots equipped with lethal force after outcry
Jack Birle
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Officials in San Francisco have reversed a controversial policy that would have permitted the San Francisco Police Department to utilize robots equipped for deadly force in certain situations.
The city Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to ban the robots a week after they voted 8-3 to allow the robots to be used in select instances following pushback and anger from some people.
SAN FRANCISCO OFFICIALS AUTHORIZE POLICE ROBOTS TO BE ABLE TO USE LETHAL FORCE
SFPD had insisted robots would not have been armed with guns but rather explosives and would have been used as a “last resort option.”
“The use of robots in potentially deadly force situations is a last resort option. We live in a time when unthinkable mass violence is becoming more commonplace. We need the option to be able to save lives in the event we have that type of tragedy in our city,” San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said in a statement last week after the initial measure was passed.
The measure was introduced due to a newly enacted state law that requires police and sheriff’s departments to be explicitly authorized to store and use military-grade materials.
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SFPD says it never used robots to deliver explosives with the units it acquired from 2010 through 2017.