San Francisco lawmakers reverse course on police robots

76
2
San Francisco lawmakers reverse course on police robots

San Francisco lawmakers voted to ban police robots from using deadly force on Tuesday, a reversing course one week after officials approved the practice and sparked national outrage.

The city's board of supervisors voted to prohibit the San Francisco police department SFPD from using 17 robots in its arsenal to kill people. The issue was sent back to a committee for further review, which means it could later decide to allow lethal force in some circumstances.

The U-turn came after the majority of members of the 11-person board voted to allow robots to be armed with explosives and use them to kill people when the risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available to SFPD.

The initial decision to allow killer robots was met with widespread criticism from civil rights groups and sounded a harsh light on the militarization of US police forces.

The use of lethal force was initially supported by police officials and supervisors who had previously said the robots would kill people in extraordinary cases, such as suicide bombers or active shooters.

Hilary Ronen, one of three supervisors who voted against deploying killer robots, said last week he was surprised that we are here in 2022. We have seen a history of these leading to tragedy and destruction all over the world. She tweeted after Tuesday s reversal, Common sense prevailed. The policy allows SFPD to use robots for situational awareness, such as sending equipment to dangerous situations while officers stay behind.

On Monday, supervisor Gordon Mar said that he regretted voting in favor of lethal robots and that he would be switching his position: Even with additional guardrails, I have grown increasingly uncomfortable with the precedent it sets for other cities without as strong a commitment to police accountability. I do not believe that making state violence more remote, distanced, less human is a step forward. He said that he does not believe that robots with lethal force will make us safer, or prevent or solve crimes.

San Francisco police have a controversial history of using lethal force against civilians, and a former officer is now facing manslaughter charges for on-duty killing.