Last year NYPD acquired Spot, the robot dog from Boston Dynamics. The machine was nicknamed the Digidog and its main purpose was to protect citizens, police officers and save lives according to the NYPD. Unfortunately after major backlash from the community the robot is going back to its manufacturer.
According to city officials and citizens Digidog was sending a wrong message to the community and is a sign of a dystopian technology that has no place in New York yet. The general public in convinced that the robot is an example of excessive police militarisation and is used wrongly to intervene in poor communities where the NYPD is scared to send its officers. Said militarisation is impossible in this case. Fitting any weapons to the robot is agains Boston Dynamics terms of service and the lease would end immediately .
The two sides seem to have a different perception of how the robot will affect the communities. On one hand the police has made questionable decisions to send the Digidog to a home invasion in Bronx and to a pubic housing building, which according to critics shows how aggressively the police treats poor communities. On the other hand the robot has a potential to fit in places when no human can go or to show a non-biased recording of a dangerous situation.
The NYPD spokesperson highlighted that we might see other robots joining the police force but in a smarter and more effective way.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/nyregion/nypd-robot-dog-backlash.html