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Robot Police Officer Goes On Duty In Dubai (bbc.com) 49

Posted by BeauHD from the reporting-for-duty dept.
The first robot officer has joined the Dubai Police force tasked with patrolling the city's malls and tourist attractions. "People will be able to use it to report crimes, pay fines and get information by tapping a touchscreen on its chest," reports BBC. "Data collected by the robot will also be shared with the transport and traffic authorities." From the report: The government said the aim was for 25% of the force to be robotic by 2030 but they would not replace humans. "We are not going to replace our police officers with this tool," said Brig Khalid Al Razooqi, director general of smart services at Dubai Police. "But with the number of people in Dubai increasing, we want to relocate police officers so they work in the right areas and can concentrate on providing a safe city. "Most people visit police stations or customer service, but with this tool we can reach the public 24/7. It can protect people from crime because it can broadcast what is happening right away to our command and control center."
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Robot Police Officer Goes On Duty In Dubai

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  • If the robot cop accepts payment for fines, does that mean it's a mobile ATM? How long before it's stolen?

  • I notice everytime something gets automated (Score:4, Insightful)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2017 @06:49PM (#54481039)
    within 3 sentences I'll read "will not replace humans" or some variations thereof. Does anyone really believe that?

    • Does anyone believe anything a corporation or government it says it will not do?

      If public concern over X multiplied by corporate/government temptation to do X exceeds some threshold Y, then the following will happen:
        - The corporation/government will issue a statement saying they won't do X.
        - The corporation/government will quietly/gradually/eventually/flagrantly do X anyway.

      You may as well cry out "Swiper, no swiping!".

      • we keep electing these yahoos but I know the answer: our entire political system was designed so they could get elected. People said the Electoral college was suppose to stop a demagogue like Trump but it's not. It's suppose to enable him. Sure, he talked scary populist rhetoric but when push came to shove he fell in line like anyone paying attention knew he would. Our entire system was designed by wealthy landowners in the 1800s to prevent democracy from taking away all the land they'd claimed for themselv
        • The electoral college is supposed to give the states a voice and make the election more than a mere popularity contest; do they not teach civics at all any more? Each congressional district gets an elector, or to look at it another way, the total of electors for a state is the number of senators plus the number of house reps. It's the same reason we have a bicameral system of legislation with one house having a representation of the populace and the other giving all states an equal voice.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by rtb61 ( 674572 )

            The electoral college is inherently corrupt, it's sole purpose is to steal election, give a temporary faÃade of legality whilst martial law is brought into being because the corrupt establishment lost power to the people and want it back. In the case of current US election the bulk of the corruption as has been amply demonstrated occurs during the primaries when the elections are stacked with corporate stooges. Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Clinton, come on one great big old organised crime gang, front p

            • I hope you realize that the primaries have nothing to do with the US electoral college, and that it's been around a very long time. I hope.

          • The electoral college is supposed to give the states a voice

            And when the constitution was written the states were presumed to be at worst within an order of magnitude of each other in size and population, which they no longer are. Wyoming and California are barely within two orders of magnitude.

    • shit, I hope every cop gets replaced by a robot. Cops are robots already, at least a metal robot doesn't have a really good excuse to use lethal force when unnecessary.

  • I know where this is going. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2017 @07:10PM (#54481129)

    It's a good idea in concept but reality has a habit of getting in the way. [securitybaron.com]

  • Ray Bradbury would be proud.

  • At least, here is the programmatically incorruptible cop.
  • what a concept! call my agent.

  • Just wait until they're armed (Score:3)

    by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Wednesday May 24, 2017 @07:45PM (#54481303)

    I imagine a few robots with electrified surfaces and maybe a microwave area denial device would be considered great for crowd control in certain countries. If the power requirements could be met, put a tetanizing beam weapon on them. Just have them roll down the streets after curfew and torture anyone found outside... while also recording their faces for human follow-up. Have them 'shout' orders in a loud, slightly distorted voice to frighten people and encourage compliance.

    And from there it isn't a huge leap to adding lethal weaponry to defend the robot if dissidents are inclined to destroy them (which they will be). And then will come the robots just killing from the start.

    Imagine what a ruthless dictator could do with such devices; no worries about loyalty, no fears the machines won't fire on 'their own people' if ordered to do so. Nobody would even think of trying to argue with them - they're machines, a mindless force. Make people carry ID cards, and if you don't present them for scanning when challenged, you get tased if you move, maybe shot if you get out of taser range, to keep you around while the human thugs come to check up.

    Of course (at least for a while) stairs will be their greatest enemy. Or maybe a hat hung over the optics.

    • Or maybe a hat hung over the optics.

      Black spray paint, too.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rtb61 ( 674572 )

      That's funny I can imagine the number target for hackery would be robot police officers, there could be no better crime tool. A criminal device with the authority of state, inherently, wildly at risk because it must be wireless and you want to secure anything, I mean seriously secure, you do not connect it wirelessly to anything especially in a metropolitan area where hackers could be hiding anywhere. Of course hack one and you can immediately hack many and well, chaos would be an understatement.

    • No fears about loyalty until the rebels learn how to reprogram them. And if they're networked they're open to a remote Cylon takeover. :)

  • Ha ha ha! We beat 'em!

    They're trying to build a Robocop and we've already got a nation of ED-209's!

    USA! USA! USA!

  • Robot Police Officer Goes On Duty In Dubai

    So you want to say that ... it went live?

  • When giving money directly to an officer of the law, we call it bribes.

  • If it doesn't have power of arrest, how is it a police officer? It's a chatbot for pete's sake.

    If you damage it, are you guilty of assaulting a police officer? My understanding is that this sort of question is the reason police dogs are considered officers.

    Not a fan of dishonest headlines.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Agripa ( 139780 )

      If it doesn't have power of arrest, how is it a police officer? It's a chatbot for pete's sake.

      If you damage it, are you guilty of assaulting a police officer? My understanding is that this sort of question is the reason police dogs are considered officers.

      Police dogs are considered officers for purposes of charging others but if the police dog runs amok, then it is just a dog and has absolute immunity.

  • All kidding aside, there's a human element that society won't willingly abandon. Certainly not the powers the be, though they rarely directly interact with the long arm of the law. Which reminds me ... https://pjmedia.com/trending/2... [pjmedia.com] https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

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