Pontiac once made a car called The Judge, but soon there may be a car that judges you.
Criminals should dread it.
Mobile communications company Motorola has filed a patent for an autonomous police car outfitted with all of the equipment needed to process a suspect and even hold a court hearing for them from the back seat, The Sunday Times reports.
The “mobile law enforcement communication system” features a built-in metal detector that can scan for weapons, an air filter that passively screens for alcohol and drugs, and both a fingerprint scanner and facial recognition system to conduct background checks.
(Motorola)
Several video screens are mounted in the passenger compartment that can then provide a live feed form a courthouse, from which a hearing is conducted complete with a public defender and judge, while a virtual assistant explains the process to the suspect.
Fines for minor infractions can be paid on the spot, but if the court decides the accused should be remanded into custody, the vehicle can take them there on its own while the arresting officer who summoned the car goes back to work.
For now, it’s just a concept, but so were automated license plate readers and speed cameras that send you a ticket in the mail not long ago, so you never know what the future, dystopian or otherwise, holds.