San Francisco reverses plans to allow police robots to kill suspects
by James Vincent from The Verge - All Posts on (#66K9B)
The policy allowed the SFPD to arm bomb disposal robots similar to the one seen here with explosives to incapacitate and even kill suspects. | Photo by Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images San Francisco officials have voted against allowing the police to kill suspects with remote-controlled robots. The city's board of supervisors reversed the policy it approved last week, following outcry and protests from citizens and civil rights groups. However, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the new ban is not necessarily permanent, and the issue has been sent back to a committee for further discussion."
The board originally approved the policy to let the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) use remote-controlled robots as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available."
A spokesperson for the SFPD said that the...