San Francisco, California, is reversing a plan that would have allowed local police officers to use robots to kill criminal suspects in emergency situations.
A Board of Supervisors member confirmed the decision Tuesday:
https://twitter.com/DeanPreston/status/1600266001848803329
“In a complete reversal, the Board of Supervisors just voted for a military equipment policy that bans police from using robots to kill. Thank you to all the residents and civil rights advocates who made their voices heard!” Dean Preston tweeted.
The reversal comes after major pushback from civilians and civil rights groups alike.
“The people of San Francisco have spoken loud and clear: There is no place for killer police robots in our city,” Preston told ABC News in a statement. “There have been more killings at the hands of police than any other year on record nationwide. We should be working on ways to decrease the use of force by local law enforcement, not giving them new tools to kill people.”
Preston wasn’t alone in the sentiment, either.
“Allowing them to kill remotely will lead to more mistakes, and as we have seen many times before with other police weapons, to more frequent use,” ACLU NorCal said, according to ABC.
San Francisco would have been the first city in the country to allow robots to use lethal force.
[ABC]
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