For most viewers, Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 scifi masterpiece “RoboCop” is obvious satire. Evidently for police officials in Florida, it was an inspiration.
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office recently announced its ambitious plans to deploy “America’s first autonomous patrol vehicle,” a police SUV the law enforcement agency claims can drive itself, all while reporting crimes via AI-powered cameras.
Called the Police Unmanned Ground Vehicle Patrol Partner, or PUG, the self-driving squad car is rolling out as part of a year-long trial in coordination with the Policing Lab, a nonprofit “innovation center” founded by a former Los Angeles police officer named Sean Malinowski.
According to TheTruthAboutCars, an auto industry publication, the autonomous cop car can also launch flying drones “as needed.” Those drones are each equipped with thermal cameras, apparently for moments when the regular surveillance panopticon just isn’t enough. It will also be constantly plugged into local police databases, license plate readers, and public safety software for good measure.
“For us, it’s a way that we can touch our community in a way we really have never done before,” Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz told local reporters. “We are setting the standard for what will be the future of law enforcement in this country.”
While the first one’s free — donated to Miami-Dade by the Policing Lab — each additional squad car will cost tax payers a whopping $150,000 to $200,000 a piece, the Miami Herald reported.
How useful the dystopian squad car is to law enforcement remains to be seen. When it’s approved for road duty, Cordero-Stutz said the PUG will be restricted to predetermined patrol routes, and will not be able to enter the highway. And despite all the car’s AI-powered bells and whistles, the current plan is to station a police officer in the front seat for the duration of the trial.
“It has the capability to identify folks that are in a restricted area that are hiding in shrubbery, or in an overwatch position, [like] someone on a rooftop,” Edward Prokop, Police Lab’s strategic site advisor told local news media. Those are all things that a human police officer should be able to do too, though these days you never know.
More on policing: Cops Post AI Slop Image Of “Drug Bust,” Then Lie and Say It’s Real When They’re Called Out
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