San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors are scheduled to vote Tuesday on a police proposal to use robots to kill suspects.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin added the disclaimer, “Robots shall not be used as a Use of Force against any person.” A subsequent San Francisco Police Department revisal deleted the page-three disclaimer.
“Robots will only be used 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 to SFPD,” replaced Peskin’s restriction.
The Daily Wire further reported:
San Francisco authorities proposed a new “dystopian” policy heading for approval next week that would license department robots to kill suspects who threaten the lives of citizens and police officers in the crime-ridden city.
San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) drafted the blueprint for officers to use its military-style weapons, which includes 17 remote-controlled robots available in its inventory that are typically used for defusing bombs or surveilling areas too difficult for authorities to access.
“Robots will only be used 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 to SFPD,” the policy reads.
The proposal also authorizes authorities to use the robots for “training and simulations, criminal apprehensions, critical incidents, exigent circumstances, executing a warrant or during suspicious device assessments.”
SFPD Officer Eve Laokwansathitaya told The Verge the department has always had the ability to use lethal force when a suspect threatens the lives of officers or members of the public after all other force options are unavailable.
“SFPD does not have any sort of specific plan in place as the unusually dangerous or spontaneous operations where SFPD’s need to deliver deadly force via robot would be a rare and exceptional circumstance,” Laokwansathitaya said.
SFPD Officer Robert Rueca told Mission Local the department has never used robots to attack anyone.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has reviewed the policy over the last several weeks.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who serves on the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee, attempted to add a line saying, “Robots shall not be used as a Use of Force against any person,” according to Mission Local.
But within the following week, authorities struck out the revision.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors will meet on November 29 to discuss the issue.
Local law enforcement agencies across California started proposing plans to use military weapons after state lawmakers passed AB 481 last year. The law mandates every police force to report how authorities use military weapons such as drones, mobile command centers, and sound cannons that the United States military has supplied for years.
Under the new law, city officials can accept or reject how the weapons are used annually.
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