Back in 2021, New York City introduced a new police robot named “Digidog” which was billed as a way to make police work safer and offer another type of nonlethal intervention with dangerous suspects. Or at least they tried to introduce it. After a brief debut, activists demanded the robot be removed, with AOC leading the charge. The robotic dog was claimed to be “emblematic of aggressive policing.” Mayor Bill de Blasio quickly caved and the robot was removed from service.

But that was then and this is now, with a new mayor in office. Mayor Eric Adams seems to be a fan of the plan and Digidog is making a comeback. The product of Boston Dynamics will have its paws full with all of the crime in the subways, but they’re at least willing to give it a go. (ABC News New York)

They say every dog has his day and today may be Digidog’s.

The New York City Police Department and Mayor Eric Adams reintroduced the robotic police dog Tuesday after it was dismissed by the previous administration, and they rolled out two newer public safety technologies as well.

Digidog, the $74,000 robot made by Boston Dynamics and previewed exclusively by Eyewitness News back in December 2020, fell victim to calls by civil rights advocates to cut police department funding.

Adams declared that the robots (plural) will keep citizens safe and they will be handled with the best interests of residents in mind. We’re discussing multiple robots because they are rolling out two other models for testing as well. One is the K5 Autonomous Security Robot and the other is the StarChase GPS system.

The K5 robot made by Knightscope looks a lot more like R2D2 than a dog. (There’s a picture at the link.) The manufacturer claims that the K5 can operate 24/7/365 and even recharges itself without intervention. It can operate autonomously (which sounds a little scary) or be controlled remotely by an officer.

The StarChase system really isn’t so much a robot as a tracker. It can eliminate the need for a potentially dangerous high-speed chase. It attaches to the front of a police car and flings a tracking device that sticks to the suspect’s vehicle. It can then remotely track where the car goes until the bad guy goes to ground.

I’m sure AOC and her friends will be back out there protesting the robots just as before. After all, we know that robots are racists and probably transphobes as well. But Mayor Adams doesn’t seem like the type to back down very easily. The robots will initially be patrolling Times Square and the Times Square subway station. Subway duty is some of the toughest and most dangerous for the police so I’m guessing the NYPD will welcome the help.

The one thing that both Digidog and K5 still seem to be lacking is guns. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. A gun for an autonomous robot with AI built into it? What could possibly go wrong? But we may as well get used to the idea. There’s already a robot similar to Digidog out there that has a sniper rifle built into it. Perhaps we all just need to embrace the future and welcome our new robotic overlords.