Despite having more than 2,100 officers all armed to the teeth, San Francisco Police Department is a little concerned it doesn't have enough firepower to tackle lethal threats.
That's why the Californian police force has drawn up a proposal for debate this week that, if passed, would enable it to deploy 12 killer robots as a 'deadly force option'.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee will debate the proposal to determine how the SFPD is allowed to use so-called 'killer robots' on November 29.
Aaron Peskin, who chairs the committee, said he initially tried to limit the use of force by robots, but the police department had other ideas.
Peskin told Mission Local: "The original policy they submitted was actually silent on whether robots could deploy lethal force." However, he added that the department put forward the case that "there could be scenarios where deployment of lethal force was the only option".
Until now, the use of force by robots has neither been banned or approved in San Francisco.
The police department wrote in the proposal: "Robots will only be used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers are imminent and outweigh any other force option available to SFPD."
Huge Black Friday Amazon Echo Dot deal is cheapest ever at just £1.64
SFPD currently owns 12 fully functional remote-controlled robots which are normally used for bomb defusal or reconnaissance.
However, the SFPD wants permission to equip these with live ammunition or even explosives, inspired by a Dallas police force operation. In 2016, cops in the Texas city attached explosives to a Remotec F5A robot and 'blew up' a gunman who had killed five officers.
Given the track record of extrajudicial killings by police departments across the USA, ideas like this might not exactly fill citizens with confidence that they're going to be any safer from crime—but that will be decided this week when the Committee debates the issue.
READ MORE:
- World's first 'invisibility cloak' looks like a Christmas jumper
- £56,000 worth of drones crash into a river during Christmas lights switch-on ceremony
- Humans will live on the Moon full-time by 2030, says NASA
- Creepy humanoid robot brags she'll have legs in less than a year
Source: Read Full Article