San Francisco approves police request to deploy lethal robots

Police with bomb squad robot in San Francisco
(Image credit: Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 Tuesday to approve a modified request from the San Francisco Police Department to allow the use of remote-controlled robots armed with potentially lethal explosives in certain circumstances. Approval of the controversial proposal followed two hours of emotionally charged debate, The Associated Press reports, with each side accusing the other of excessive fear-mongering.

The San Francisco PD had proposed using robots "as a deadly force option" only "when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers are imminent and outweigh any other force option available to SFPD." The proposal was prompted by a new California law that requires police and sheriff departments to list their military-grade equipment and how it can be used, with city governments given final approval of those rules.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.