The San Francisco Police Department has asked to repurpose its bomb defusing robots with guns and life ammunition, effectively creating killing machines meant to help safeguard the streets of that liberal city.
Next week the issue is set to be raised to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Rules Committee, reports The Daily Mail, which “will define how the SFPD is allowed to use its military-style weapons.”
Should SFPD’s request be granted, a device known as a PAN disruptor that fires shotgun shells could be attached the bomb robots, which would allow them to fire shotgun shells at suspects without placing a human operator in danger.
Likewise, the outlet explains, police could simply strap a large bomb the robot and send it in – kamikaze style – to incapacitate or kill an armed suspect, which the department knows was observed in Dallas in 2016.
????#BREAKING: San Francisco police consider letting robots use ‘deadly force
????#SanFrancisco l #CA
The San Francisco Police is officially requesting authorization from the city's board of supervisors to use killer robots to eliminate suspects deemed dangerous during operations pic.twitter.com/ySRftesn4R
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) November 25, 2022
Apparently supervisors Aaron Peskin, Rafael Mandelman, and Connie Chan questioned the wisdom of creating killer robots, and Peskin added language specifically prohibiting robot-on-human violence.
The police department, however, amended this language to allow the robots to engage with humans: “Robots will only be used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers are imminent and outweigh any other force option available to SFPD.”
Civil rights lawyer Tifanei Moyer described the robots as something from a “dystopian future” where “police may use robots to execute private citizens without a trial, jury, or judge.”
Leave it to the San Francisco Commies to introduce killer robots ????
Bet they will put a rainbow ???? flag on it too. #LiberalHypocrisySan Francisco police to allow robots to kill????https://t.co/A95s8EPFIM
— Prepped&Ready ???? (@readyprepperone) November 25, 2022
The push from law enforcement to arm robots comes as crime rates in the city continue to rise, officials confirm.
Last month SF Gate reported that both property crimes and violent crimes against individuals rose in August and September when compared to 2021, and noted that many were hoping the ouster of George Soros-backed District Attorney Chesa Boudin would have a more immediate effect.
Though these lethal robots may be a world first, this is not the first time security professionals have sought to automate – or robotize – law enforcement.
Earlier this year, following the deadly shooting at a school in Uvalde, Texas, the manufacturer of Taser products announced its plans to build a Taser-armed drone that could breach rooms and incapacitate suspects without placing police in direct harm.
“Today, the only viable response to a mass shooter is another person with a gun,” said Axon CEO and founder Rick Smith in a press release in June. “In the aftermath of these events, we get stuck in fruitless debates. We need new and better solutions.”
That creation, too, is being widely protested by civil rights groups.
This news and commentary by Tom Pappert originally appeared on Valiant News.
