San Francisco City Council members voted Tuesday to authorize city police to use remote-controlled robots that can kill people in emergency situations.
With eight votes in favor and a train against, a majority in the San Francisco City Council agreed to grant the option to police despite strong objections from civil liberties and other police oversight groups, The Hill reported.
Police leaders have repeatedly called for the measure, stressing the need to be able to deploy robots with lethal force in «extremely rare cases against violent suspects,» such as attackers in suicide terrorist shootings.
«Robots equipped in this manner would only be used in extreme circumstances to save or prevent further loss of innocent life,» San Francisco Police spokeswoman Allison Maxie said in a statement.
For opponents of the measure, however, this authorization would lead to «further militarization» of the police force which, in the view of civil liberties groups, «is already too aggressive toward poor and minority communities,» according to the newspaper.
The SFPD currently has a dozen ground robots in operation that are used to assess bombs or provide vision in low-visibility situations. They were purchased between 2010 and 2017, and not once have they been used to drop an explosive device, although they could have been, the SFPD has maintained.
All of these robots are capable of «addressing criminal apprehensions, critical incidents, exigent circumstances, executing a warrant for suspicious device assessments,» according to police officials.
