San Francisco ridiculed over push for robot police capable of lethal force
Duke University Professor Sultan Meghji discusses the possible consequences of implementing robotic law enforcement agents.
San Francisco authorities have been met with swift pushback over a proposed policy that would integrate military-style robots capable of deadly force into the city’s police force. Critics have called the idea "laughable" while pointing out the possible consequences.
Sultan Meghji, a professor at Duke University, voiced opposition to the proposal on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Monday.
"It’s an awful idea," he told host Jesse Watters. "These guys are taking policy decisions from the ‘Terminator’ franchise."
The bomb squad robot gets a hand going under police tape during closures due to a suspicious package being found at the Boulder Post Office on January 27, 2015. ((Photo by Paul Aiken/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images))
The San Francisco Police Department outlined in a draft policy how its 17 unmanned, remote-controlled robots would be used.
"The robots listed in this section shall not be utilized outside of training and simulations, criminal apprehensions, critical incidents, exigent circumstances, executing a warrant or during suspicious device assessment," the draft states. "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."
Officers from New York Police Department's Emergency Services Unit operate a remote controlled robot on a street near the United Nations building on September 14, 2005 in New York City. A San Francisco Police Department draft policy proposes that such robots can use lethal force in certain instances. ( (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images))
Meghji, however, warned that police safety should remain a priority and could be jeopardized by the use of robots.
"We what are we going to do? Take their training and decision-making out of it and just have a bunch of robots do it?," he asked.
A spokeswoman for the SFPD clarified that a robot’s use of deadly force would be limited to "a rare and exceptional circumstance," but Meghji maintained that the plan by the Democratic city leaders "makes no sense at all."
"At the end of the day, it’s a bunch of people who barely know how to change the ringtone on their iPhone making these kinds of decisions," he said. "Maybe they shouldn’t be the ones doing it."
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And while he acknowledged that the plan only allows for the robots to use deadly force in situations deemed too dangerous for a human, Meghji was wary of relying on a machine capable of making its own decisions when lives are at stake.
"I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that," he said.
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