The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to explicitly ban the use of robots – for now. The issue has been sent back to a committee for further discussion and could vote in the future to let police use robots in limited cases.
, reversing course just days after their approval of the plan generated fierce pushback and warnings about the militarization and automation of policing.
The initial vote thrust the famously liberal city into the center of a debate about the future of technology and policing, with some saying arming robots was a step too close to something one would see in a dystopian science fiction movie. Though robot technology for policing has become more widely available, departments across the country have rarely used it to confront or kill suspects.
People take part in a demonstration about the use of robots by the San Francisco Police Department outside of City Hall in San Francisco, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022.Supervisor Dean Preston was among them, and on Tuesday he told his colleagues the public hadn't been given enough time to voice their concerns about such a pressing issue.
The vote was the result of a new state law that requires police departments to inventory equipment including certain guns, grenades, armored vehicles and battering rams and to seek explicit approval for their use. So far, only San Francisco and Oakland have discussed lethal robots as part of that law. Oakland police wanted to arm robots with shotguns but backed down in the face of public opposition, instead opting for pepper spray.
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