Former cop and self-declared "geek" Eric Adams held a press conference in Times Square today to let the city know how much he loves police robots. New York City's mayor presided over a press conference alongside police officials to discuss a pair of pilots designed to increase the city's surveillance. "I've stated this from day one, even when I was on the campaign trail: I'm a computer geek. I believe that technology is here," the mayor said at the top of his remarks. "We can't be afraid of it, and as [NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell] stated, transparency is the key."

The phrase "mission creep" entered the popular discourse in the early to mid-1990s. The trick is to do this without inviting what a senior official called "mission creep" -- the expansion of the role to include, for example, raiding neighborhoods controlled by General Aidid and searching for weapons. Like countless military and sports terms before it, we now understand it in a broader context. It's one of those phrases that perfectly encapsulates a commonly understood experience -- projects whose size, scope and focus shift so gradually you hardly even notice. I bring this up in the context of an op-ed the Electronic Frontier Foundation published last year.

San Francisco leaders voted to allow the city's police department to use potentially lethal robots in emergency situations. "Under this policy, SFPD is authorized to use these robots to carry out deadly force in extremely limited situations when risk to loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available," City Supervisor Rafael Mandelman wrote on Twitter. San Francisco leaders voted 8-3 on Tuesday in support of the new policy. The San Francisco Police Department has 17 robots, but none are armed with guns, and the department has no plans to do so. The department could deploy robots equipped with explosive charges "to contact, incapacitate, or disorient violent, armed, or dangerous suspect" during emergency situations when lives are at risk, according to a police department spokesperson.

A week ago, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) petitioned the Board of Supervisors for permission to deploy robots that can kill suspects under specific circumstances. Now, the board has approved the petition with a vote of 8 vs. 3 despite strong opposition from civil liberties groups. Under the new policy, robots can 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." The city's police force has over a dozen robots at the moment, which are equipped with the capability to provide video reconnaissance and to diffuse bombs. None of them have weapons and live ammunition, the SFPD says, and there are no plans to fit them with any.

Police in San Francisco will be allowed to deploy potentially lethal, remote-controlled robots in emergency situations. The controversial policy was approved after weeks of scrutiny and a heated debate among the city's board of supervisors during their meeting on Tuesday. Police oversight groups, the ACLU and San Francisco's public defender had urged the 11-member body to reject the police's use of equipment proposal. Opponents of the policy said it would lead to further militarization of a police force already too aggressive with underserved communities. They said the parameters under which use would be allowed were too vague.

Law enforcement has used robots to investigate suspicious packages. Now, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering a policy proposal that would allow SFPD's robots to use deadly force against a suspect. Law enforcement has used robots to investigate suspicious packages. Now, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering a policy proposal that would allow SFPD's robots to use deadly force against a suspect. Should robots working alongside law enforcement be used to deploy deadly force?

San Francisco district attorney Brooke Jenkins provides update on the assault on Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi in press conference. San Francisco authorities have proposed a policy that would allow its military-style robots to use deadly force in situations where someone's life is in danger and other dangerous instances. A draft policy by the San Francisco Police Department outlines how it would use its 17 remote-controlled, unmanned robots, which are often used to defuse bombs and deal with hazardous materials. "The robots listed in this section shall not be utilized outside of training and simulations, criminal apprehensions, critical incidents, exigent circumstances, executing a warrant or during suspicious device assessment," the draft states. "Robots will only be used as a deadly force option when risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available to SFPD."

Okay, let's talk about killer robots. It's a concept that long ago leapt from the pages of science fiction to reality, depending on how loose a definition you use for "robot." Military drones abandoned Asimov's First Law of Robotics -- "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm" -- decades ago. The topic has been simmering again of late due to the increasing prospect of killer robots in domestic law enforcement. One of the era's best known robot makers, Boston Dynamics, raised some public policy red flags when it showcased footage of its Spot robot being deployed as part of Massachusetts State Police training exercises on our stage back in 2019.