The New York Police Department announced Tuesday it will be releasing 3 new “innovative policing technologies,” throughout the Times Square area starting this summer.
Mayor Eric Adams vowed this is “only the beginning” as city officials aim to add more public safety using advanced technology.
Officials gathered in Times Square to announce the police department’s adoption of the K5 security robot, Digidog robot and StarChase GPS attachment system.
The Digidog robots will be utilized in an “array of specific critical incidents,” including “high-risk” investigations involving hostages and hazard spills.
“I’m a computer geek,” Mayor Adams said. “I believe that technology is here. We can’t be afraid of it.”
Civil rights activists criticized the robots, claiming the technological tools as dystopian and another way to aggressively police and surveil New Yorkers, particularly in minority neighborhoods.
“A few loud people were opposed to it, and we took a step back,” Adams said. “That is not how I operate it. I do what is best for the city.”
NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell mentioned that the technologies were “significant steps forwards” in public safety.
“We want the public to know that the use of these technologies will be transparent, consistent, and always done in collaboration with the people that we serve,” Sewell said.
The StarChase system attaches a GPS tag to a fleeing vehicle using a hand-held or vehicle-mounted launcher. Police can track the vehicle via an app with a real-time date instead of pursuing the driver. The StarChase pilot is expected to last 90 days.
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