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Robotics

In Hawaii, Robot Dogs Join the Police Force (apnews.com) 42

Posted by EditorDavid from the rookie-robots dept.
"If you're homeless and looking for temporary shelter in Hawaii's capital, expect a visit from a robotic police dog that will scan your eye to make sure you don't have a fever," reports the Associated Press: That's just one of the ways public safety agencies are starting to use Spot, the best-known of a new commercial category of robots that trot around with animal-like agility. The handful of police officials experimenting with the four-legged machines say they're just another tool, like existing drones and simple wheeled robots, to keep emergency responders out of harm's way as they scout for dangers. But privacy watchdogs â" the human kind â" warn that police are secretly rushing to buy the robots without setting safeguards against aggressive, invasive or dehumanizing uses.

In Honolulu, the police department spent about $150,000 in federal pandemic relief money to buy their Spot from robotics firm Boston Dynamics for use at a government-run tent city near the airport. "Because these people are houseless it's considered OK to do that," said Jongwook Kim, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii. "At some point it will come out again for some different use after the pandemic is over." Acting Lt. Joseph O'Neal of the Honolulu Police Department's community outreach unit defended the robot's use in a media demonstration earlier this year. He said it has protected officers, shelter staff and residents by scanning body temperatures between meal times at a shelter where homeless people could quarantine and get tested for COVID-19. The robot is also used to remotely interview individuals who have tested positive.

"We have not had a single person out there that said, 'That's scary, that's worrisome,'" O'Neal said. "We don't just walk around and arbitrarily scan people."
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In Hawaii, Robot Dogs Join the Police Force More

In Hawaii, Robot Dogs Join the Police Force

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  • To assuage any concerns the public might have, the Honolulu police have released a video:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

  • This is a terrible idea (Score:3, Insightful)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Saturday July 31, 2021 @10:54PM (#61643095)
    giving cops these kind of things encourages them to use them in flashy ways. So instead of calmly defusing a hostage situation they'll send in the robot dog and then when that inevitably makes things worse the swat team'll start chucking flash bangs and bursting in Waco style.

    A militarized police is bad news all around. The military's job is to kill people you want dead. They fight wars, and that's what war is. Kinda hard to protect and serve like that.

    • Why would a robot make things worse? The robot won't be trigger happy. A robot won't do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      • Because it discourages caution and descalation. If the cops can just send the robot in without worrying about themselves they're going to. Especially since they have to justify spending $150,000 to $200,000 on one of these. So instead of calling in a hostage negotiator and quietly and calmly talking somebody down in goes the robot, the perpetrator panics and then the SWAT team has to crash in. It's like Waco. When you give people weapons that are meant for war you put them in the mindset of war.

    • "So instead of calmly defusing a hostage situation they'll send in the robot dog and then when that inevitably makes things worse"

      Not in this case, because Spot is a good boy.

  • How cool is this? Tech can't fix people being typical humans. But it can make humans being themselves cyberpunk as hell, and that's an improvement over doing the same thing except not cyberpunk as hell.

    I for one welcome our robotic overlords.

  • See Jane run. See Spot run. See Jane jump. See Spot bite Jane's ankles. See Jane in jail. Chasing is fun.

  • Why exactly (Score:4, Funny)

    by h33t l4x0r ( 4107715 ) on Saturday July 31, 2021 @11:20PM (#61643115)
    Are cops / robot dogs in charge of taking homeless people's temperature? Because if health care workers did it that would be socialism?
  • There was a BBC miniseries called "War of the Worlds" that uses these Spot robots as the invaders. Won't spoil it but https://gem.cbc.ca/season/war-... [gem.cbc.ca]
  • Fuck that shit all to hell. All to fucking hell

  • 1. Glad I don’t give money to ACLU any more.
    2. Amazing what Hawaii government money gets wasted on.

  • A robot can be 100x less trigger-happy than a human. A robot won't be afraid for its life and shoot.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by x0ra ( 1249540 )
      You're right, a robot will just shoot based on a crappy proprietary algorithm.
    • "You have 10 seconds to comply"
      • Thankfully, it will be written by low bid. You have 10 seconds to comply, 10, 9, 8, 7, ..., 1, 0, -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, ... ,-414234, ...

    • Re:Why are people afraid? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Miles_O'Toole ( 5152533 ) on Sunday August 01, 2021 @02:33AM (#61643311)

      At what point on the slippery slope do you believe the robots will be armed?

      • What about the slippery slope of when we let police be judge? See how that slippery slope argument works?

        Why would people allow the robots to shoot randomly, but won't let cops? Seems like sympathies are going to lie with a cop who says his life was in danger and had to act quickly. If a robot is ever overzealous even one time the public won't like it. They'd demand the algorithms be fixed .. do you think any corporation would want to face boycotts and negative publicity?

        • "If a robot is ever overzealous even one time the public won't like it. They'd demand the algorithms be fixed .. do you think any corporation would want to face boycotts and negative publicity"

          The public will be buttered up and soothed into accepting this, as always. Stupid dumbass butterballs. They don't even believe in freedom anymore. They will have a king.

          • OK, in that case they would be accepting of human police brutality too. Why would you assume they would be any less accepting when humans do it? Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] There are many other examples too, but that's one since you don't seem to believe humans can be worse than robots.

            • Give it time. The pot is still simmering, not even up to full steam yet. But in time people will learn to accept and even love the abuse that is being heaped on them.
              Stockholm Syndrome is real.

              20 years ago, a company would've been torn to shreds over the stuff that is so common place now. Now you even see the difference on /. where 20 odd years ago the Pentium III unique processor ID, which waa nowhere near as insidious as the stuff going on now had everyone here with their torches and pitchforks raised.

              Lik

      • Oh, they won't be "armed", but the tear gas ejection containers are no doubt already designed....

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Agripa ( 139780 )

        At what point on the slippery slope do you believe the robots will be armed?

        We have already passed the point where law enforcement arms its robots.

  • Getting bored with COVID, so maybe a robot apocalypse is not such a bad idea.
  • I don't think it's a good idea, soon there will be NO jobs for humankind. Robots are taking over, beware.
  • They should totally name the robot dog Danno [youtu.be] so they can say "Bite em, Danno."

  • Too much money (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Malifescent ( 7411208 )
    It looks to me our police forces have too much money on their hands. This is merely a plaything and nothing more.

  • "We don't just walk around and arbitrarily scan people."

    Yet.

  • "If you're homeless and looking for temporary shelter in Hawaii's capital, expect a visit from a robotic police dog that will scan your retina and save the data forever whether it's legal or not," the Associated Press fails to report.

    FTFY

  • It's like the people in charge have never watched a science fiction movie or read a science fiction novel...

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