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ROBOCOP GETS THE BOOT: SFPD cannot use killer robots to target suspects as board overturns decision

The ban, however, is not permanent, as the board referred the matter to a panel for further deliberation, which may allow it in certain situations in the future

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: A disputed rule that would have permitted San Francisco police to employ robots as a lethal force has been overturned after the Board of Supervisors voted against it. The ban, however, is not permanent, as the board referred the matter to a panel for further deliberation, which may allow it in certain situations in the future. The vote reverses last week's decision to approve the employment of robots in restricted circumstances. 

San Francisco Police stated they had no intentions to equip the bots with firearms, but they did want the capacity to strap explosives to them in real emergencies. The approval last week prompted criticism due to the potential unleashing of robots that could kill people. The public wasn't informed sufficiently of the discussion prior to the board's vote last week, according to some supervisors. 

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The Sun reported that the vote was the outcome of a new state law that mandates police units to stock military-grade weaponry and obtain permission before using it. The approval grants the police the authority to utilize robots for situational awareness, such as stepping into a dangerous scenario first so that police can keep back.

The decision last week sparked outrage from liberals who saw it as a risky growth of prosecutorial discretion, which resulted in protests outside of City Hall. Supporters say that using explosive-equipped robots to confront dangerous criminals, such as mass shooters, is a rational strategy to safeguard law enforcement agents' lives in perilous circumstances. "Killer robots won't make San Francisco any safer," according to a tweet from the ACLU of Northern California. "Police kill Black and Brown people at epidemic rates, and remote triggers are easier to pull." "We need to allow police to use these tools to save lives," San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) said in a statement to The New York Times. "If the police are called to serve in a situation where someone intends to harm or is already doing harm to innocent people, and there is technology that can help to end the violence and save lives."

As per Forbes, When Dallas police used a robot equipped with explosives to resolve a confrontation with a gunman who had killed five policemen in 2016, the use of lethal police robots rose to the level of an increasingly serious policy concern. It is up to police agencies to decide whether to employ a deadly robot under regulations that allow for the use of lethal force in the majority of jurisdictions across the nation. However, using robots to render criminals unconscious is still quite unusual, and law enforcement agencies that consider doing so are frequently met with harsh criticism. For instance, the New York Police Department discharged a lease on a robotic dog intended to hunt dangerous criminal suspects last year following controversy over the dog's purportedly dystopian character traits, particularly its similarity to killer robot dogs in the 2017 'Metalhead' episode of Netflix's Black Mirror. According to a new state rule governing police use of military-grade weapons, which led to last week's Board of Supervisors vote, California police departments must obtain public consent before unleashing any killer robots.