The head of Dubai's Police Tech division told reporters at the Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference that "by 2030, [Dubai is] keen to make robots around 25% of the total police force." Though this may sound like the beginning of a dystopian novel, this is not the first robot in use by a police force.
Police departments in the United States use robots for training purposes and also utilize bomb-diffusing robots that were first created for the American military. In 2016, the Cleveland Police used robots to patrol the Republican National Convention while police in Dallas outfitted a robot with a bomb to kill a sniper after losing numerous police lives. South Korea has robot prison guards and Israeli police uses robots in their counter-terrorism unit.
While this is not the first robot to be put into use by police, it is the first that will be ever present on the streets of a city that will eventually be able to make arrests and have all of the responsibilities of a regular cop. The rollout will happen over the next decade, so hopefully that will be enough time to work out any kinks — including robot's lack of human empathy. And, as these robots have recording capabilities, make sure none of them document any PDA on video.
H/T: The Outline
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