Are we prepared for more killer police robots?
When a police robot is used to kill, one has to ask if we are at a tipping point. The dangerous events in Dallas, in which 12 policemen were shot, made it seem permissible to repurpose a robot to apply lethal force. When an armed suspect refused to surrender, a Remotec robot armed with plastic explosives was dispatched to kill him. This wasn’t Robocop and it didn’t operate autonomously. It was a bomb disposal robot remotely controlled by police officers.
There is justification for this kill and legal scholars have pronounced that it was probably legal. The Dallas police chief said: “Other options would have exposed our officers to great danger.” The Dallas mayor said it was “the right call” and he has no qualms about resorting to the same strategy in the future. “The key thing is to keep our police out of harm’s way.”
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