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This week, the Los Angeles Police Department revealed a new robot dog they are adding to their force, piquing the interest of some citizens while terrifying others.
The robot dog, created by Boston Dynamics and named Spot, was recently unveiled by Deputy Chief David Kowalski, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department’s counterterrorism and special operations.
“The main reason that we acquired Spot is to save lives,” Kowalski told KTLA News.
The Deputy Chief cited a recent incident on an L.A. Metro bus with a barricaded, armed suspect. Spot was deployed, identified a weapon next to the suspect, and picked it up, letting human officers then take the man into custody without anyone being further harmed.
Of course, there is the flip side of Spot the robot police dog.
Some citizens are concerned about the robot dog leading to further militarization by the police, not to mention the lack of trust in both how police will use the robot dog and in artificial intelligence in general.
“I think that people are concerned in our communities because Spot follows a long and flawed history of predictive policing in Los Angeles,” said Assistant Professor Brittany Friedman of the USC Sociology Department.
Kowalski says that those fears are unfounded as the robot dog will never be weaponized as many people have seen with rocket launchers, and assault rifles. He assures citizens that Spot will only be used in high-risk situations to protect police officers and civilians.
“Our goal is for the public, when they see Spot somewhere, they know that we are using it to end a situation peacefully and not harm the public,” Kowalski said.
In 2021, New York City announced the purchase of robot dogs called Digidogs for the city’s police departments. They were quickly shelved when residents complained about them being creepy, alienating and dystopian.
However, in 2023, New York City and former police officer Eric Adams brought the Digidogs back. Residents again loudly complained, but this time the robot dogs weren’t sent to the pound.
Instead, they were kept in service, but the NYPD reportedly failed to follow a public disclosure law that requires them to reveal how they will use new surveillance devices and technology 90 days before they are put into service and to consider public comments, causing even more controversy.
New York City has also used K5 Autonomous Security Robots and drones to provide surveillance on its citizens.
Also, this past summer, the New York City Police Department spent $222,216 on 14 throwable micro-robots with surveillance capabilities called the Throwbot 2.