New York coppers get 70 pound robo-dog cop
 

Does not sniff lamp posts

The New York Times reports on what the city's police department calls Digidog, "a 70-pound robotic dog with a loping gait, cameras and lights affixed to its frame, and a two-way communication system that allows the officer maneuvering it remotely to see and hear what is happening".

Police said the robot can see in the dark and assess how safe it is for officers to enter an apartment or building where there may be a threat.

"The NYPD has been using robots since the 1970s to save lives in hostage situations & hazmat incidents. This model of robot is being tested to evaluate its capabilities against other models in use by our emergency service unit and bomb squad."

The robot has its sceptics. Democrat politican Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described Digidog on Twitter as a "robotic surveillance ground" drone.

Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union, said empowering a robot to do police work could have implications for bias, mobile surveillance, hacking and privacy.

https://fudzilla.com/news/52434-new-...d-robo-dog-cop