Oakland Police Discussing the Possibility of Using Armed “Killer Robots” in Emergency Situations

Iesha October 20, 2022 News Leave a comment

Oakland police and local residents recently attended a meeting to address the possible deployment of robots armed with the shooting capacity of a shotgun.

Two hours into the discussion, Lt. Omar Daza-Quiroz of the Oakland Police Department is said to have described how police might keep safety in mind when dealing with a percussion-actuated non-electric disruptor.

Although “special modified loads” have been described in earlier published defense trades, the device is attached to a robot and designed to use commercial blank shotgun shells.

Journalist Sam Biddle reported in September that Daza-Quiroz made the initial observation that those entrusted with working with such a device would take extra care to ensure that blank bullets were fired.

The conversation turned dark when asked whether a live round could physically enter the device. This was followed by another question directly related to whether the police planned on using live rounds.

Daza-Quiroz replied, “No,” but listed several circumstances in which police would benefit from this use.

According to the report, this is a common practice among law enforcement agencies. Although police may use a particular device or strategy in emergencies, they also define the term “emergency” as they see fit.

“The Oakland Police Department (OPD) is not adding armed remote vehicles to the department,” the rep said via email. “OPD did take part in ad hoc committee discussions with the Oakland Police Commission and community members to explore all possible uses for the vehicle. However, after further discussions with the Chief and the Executive Team, the department decided it no longer wanted to explore that particular option.”

However, Daza-Quiroz is alleged to have informed the Intercept on Monday that police are still “looking into” formal terminology that would permit the availability of what Biddle refers to as “killer robots” for emergency use.