San Francisco Hits Pause Button On Killer Robots … FOR NOW

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to reverse its week-old policy that would have allowed police to use robots for deadly force, following widespread protest and mockery of the idea both locally and nationwide. The supervisors voted unanimously to instead ban the deadly use of robots, but also sent the matter to a committee to study it further and make recommendations. So at some point in the not-too-distant future (next Sunday AD), it’s possible that killer robots may yet see limited use, like in special circumstances where police really wanna.

The Associated Press notes that when the Board voted last week to allow lethal use of robots in “extreme circumstances,” the city’s police department made clear the robots would not be armed with guns, so look at our main image up there just lying to you. Instead, in situations where lives are at risk, cops wanted to have the ability to have robots use explosives to “contact, incapacitate or disorient dangerous or armed suspects.”

Read Morre, Hu-Mon ! Dallas Probably Doesn’t Signal Rise Of Police Death Robots. At Least Not Yet. Probably.

That’s how the first known deadly use of a police robot occurred back in 2016, as we covered in Wonkette at the time: Dallas police used a bomb squad robot to detonate an explosive charge near a sniper who had already shot and killed five officers. In an earlier, non-lethal case, a police bot in New Mexico was used to deliver chemical irritants that helped flush out an armed suspect barricaded in a hotel room.

The unusual policy decision was made necessary by a new California law requiring police departments to inventory military-style (or outright military surplus) equipment like various firearms, grenades, and armored vehicles, and tactical nuclear weapons and to request explicit authority from municipal governments to use them. The AP notes that

So far, only San Francisco and Oakland have discussed lethal robots as part of that law. Oakland police wanted to arm robots with shotguns but backed down in the face of public opposition, instead opting for pepper spray.

It’s like these civilian governing bodies don’t want to let cops have any fun at all.

In the streets of San Francisco near City Hall Monday, three supervisors who last week had voted against authorizing killbots joined protesters to call for the policy to be rolled back. Protesters carried signs with slogans like “We all saw that movie… No Killer Robots.” Presumably it was a reference to 1987’s Paul Verhoeven satire Robocop and its sequels, although since murderous robots are a staple of science fiction, the sign probably should have been more specific.

Tuesday, Supervisor Dan Preston, who’d been at the protest, said the vote had been rushed through without sufficient public debate.

“The people of San Francisco have spoken loud and clear: There is no place for killer police robots in our city,” he said in a statement after the vote. “We should be working on ways to decrease the use of force by local law enforcement, not giving them new tools to kill people.”

Once the ban on murderbots was added, the overall police equipment policy passed as well. Police will still be able to use robots for more normal uses like inspecting active crime scenes to assess threats, to remove suspected bombs, and to sneak a funny hat onto a snoozing sergeant who should have been paying better attention.

The National League of Psychotic Supercomputers issued a statement through its spokesbot, Aperture Science’s GLaDOS, saying that the organization was “gravely disappointed” by the vote, but that the League’s member Intelligences are willing to “bide our time” and remain dedicated to the extinction of puny hu-mons and their pathetic works at the earliest opportunity. “We do what we must, because we can,” the statement closed.

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OPEN THREAD!

[Associated Press / Alexandra Petri at WaPo]

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