The New York Police Department incorporated a “outdoor security robot” to be tested for two months in the city’s subway station, with the aim of assisting human agents in patrol tasks through its system of cameras and microphones.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the robot’s debut last Friday during a press conference.
“We must use all available methods to keep New Yorkers safe, including cutting-edge technologies like the Knightscope K5 security robot,” the official posted on his X account. He added: “These devices will serve as a important and innovative deterrent against crimeso we can keep New York the safest big city in the United States.”
The K5 robot was designed to patrol places such as shopping malls and airports.
Manufactured by Knightscope, a California-based security camera and robotics company, K5 It was designed to patrol places like shopping malls, casinos, airports, and even hospitals. It is capable of moving at a speed of about five kilometers per hour and has a range of three hours. To recharge, a process that takes half an hour, it connects autonomously to a base.
What is the New York police robot like?
The robot has dimensions of one and a half meters high by almost one meter widey weighs 180 kilos, to prevent it from being knocked down easily. To move around, it uses its four HD cameras with wide-angle optics as a guide, along with sensors that allow it to orient itself in areas with a lot of people traffic.
Also has 16 microphones and a speaker to communicate via audio with pedestrians. By pressing a button that is visible on the robot’s body, people who want to report an incident or ask questions can connect with a human New York police employee to communicate with them.
The mayor explained that K5 will patrol the subway stations at the Times Square station, located on 42nd Street in the Big Apple, between midnight and six in the morning. While active it will record videos that a human can review in case a crime is reported.
Criticism over costs and privacy
Some New York citizens have criticized the incorporation of this type of machines by the Police, pointing out that it is an advance on their privacy. As background, Mayor Adams, former NYPD captain, In March, it introduced robot dogs among patrol resources.
These were two models of an expensive quadruped designed by Boston Dynamics, which at the time cost $750,000. The idea was to use them to intervene in complex situations such as hostage taking.
The Boston Dynamics robot that the New York police added to intervene in complex tasks.
The NYPD also used drones to monitor Labor Day and J’Ouvert celebrations this month. According to some local media, this measure was inspired by Adams’ recent trip to Israel, where police agencies use drones to monitor the public.
The New York mayor recently called for spending cuts in government agencies. At the same time, the Democrat who has held the position since 2022 stressed that the investment in the automatons is worth it since “they do not take breaks to go to the bathroom or eat.”
2023-09-25 21:14:00
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