A San Francisco city board powered down a widely criticized plan that would’ve allowed police to use robots capable of deadly force.
The unanimous vote by the board of supervisors Tuesday nixes an initial vote by lawmakers last week to permit the San Francisco Police Department to use armed robots when lives are in danger.
The decision follows protests outside City Hall on Monday in which demonstrators held signs such as, “We all saw that movie… No Killer Robots.”
“The people of San Francisco have spoken loud and clear: There is no place for killer police robots in our city,” Supervisor Dean Preston said in a statement after the vote.
“We should be working on ways to decrease the use of force by local law enforcement, not giving them new tools to kill people.”
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The bots were never going to be outfitted with guns, but police asked they be armed with explosives to combat dangerous assailants.
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In a Twitter statement, Supervisor Hillary Ronen wrote that “common sense prevailed.”
The issue could be voted on again, however, as a committee will continue to talk about the possibility of using the robots.
California police departments must be approved to use certain guns, armored vehicles, battering rams and grenades under a new state law, which inspired the vote in San Francisco.
Oakland is the only other city to suggest arming robots but similarly pivoted after backlash. It now seeks to give pepper-spray capabilities to bots.
With News Wire Services
