San Francisco votes to let police use ‘killer robots’

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors has voted to allow police to use robots that can kill.

The measure will let SFPD law enforcement deploy robots equipped with explosives in extreme situations.

While the city’s police told the BBC they don’t currently operate robots equipped with lethal force, they acknowledge there could be a future in which lethal force can be used in this way.

A spokesperson said: “Robots could potentially be equipped with explosive charges to breach fortified structures containing violent, armed, or dangerous subjects.”

They added robots could also be used to “incapacitate, or disorient violent, armed, or dangerous suspects who pose a risk of loss of life”.

Although advocates have insisted the measure would only be used in extreme circumstances, critics have blasted the idea.

Stop Killing Robots’ Dr. Catherine Connolly described the move as a “slippery slope” which would “make humans more and more distant from the use of force and the consequences of the use of force”.

She added that the measure could also make it “easier to make decisions to use lethal force in the first place”.

The measure passed with an amendment ruling that robots wielding deadly force could only be used after alternative de-escalation tactics had been attempted.

Meanwhile, only a small number of high ranking officers would be able to authorise the move.

Other parts of the United States – including Dallas, Texas – have already started to use this kind of lethal robot.

An SFPD spokesperson added: “No policy can anticipate every conceivable situation or exceptional circumstance which officers may face. The SFPD must be prepared, and have the ability, to respond proportionally.”