CLAIM: San Fransisco allows use of deadly robot police

Question

I saw this on Snapchat's news section a few days ago. I do not remember which media source was reporting on it.

Answer 1

In this NPR article they stated: "robots will only be used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers are imminent and outweigh any other force option available to the SFPD". https://www.npr.org/2022/11/28/1139523832/san-francisco-considers-allowing-law-enforcement-robots-to-use-lethal-force

Comments

Nice job including a detailed explanation and strong source link. Don't forget to add a rating to the fact-check, such as "not misinformation, true" if your evidence proves that.

Answer 2

This was in fact a policy that San Francisco officials voted on. However, according to a CNN article titled, "Amid public outcry, San Francisco officials reverse course and reject police use of robots to kill," it was stated that "San Francisco officials voted Tuesday against a controversial measure that would have allowed police to deploy robots to use lethal force in extreme situations, reversing course after public outcry against the policy." 

Supervisor Hillary Ronen said "The public outcry helped six Supervisors fully appreciate the gravity of last week’s vote and the numerous unanswered questions about both the ethics and practical implications of allowing police to use machines to kill human beings."

Therefore, at one point this claim was true, but it is now false after the reversal of the policy. 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/07/us/san-francisco-rejects-police-controlled-robots/index.html#:~:text=San%20Francisco%20officials%20voted%20Tuesday,public%20outcry%20against%20the%20policy.

Comments

I like how you initially stated where they were correct, but also corrected them in the reversal of the policy. However I would also input the SFPD's actual policy on it which I have stated below.

"The SFPD robots were acquired by the Department between 2010 and 2017. The SFPD does not own or operate robots outfitted with lethal force options and the Department has no plans to outfit robots with any type of firearm."