New York City has just welcomed a new member into the ranks of the famous NYPD. Nothing surprising so far, except that it’s a robot. Introduced in person by the city’s mayor Eric Adams, the Knightscope K5 will have the mission of patrolling the Big Apple metro at night between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.
After the French Army which in 2021 chose to train with a robot dog developed by Boston Dynamics, it is the turn of the New York police force to use robotics. Indeed, the famous NYPD has just welcomed a rather special new recruit into its ranks.
As our colleagues at Vice report, the Big Apple police have just launched a fairly revolutionary new pilot program. Indeed, the NYPD can now count on its staff a security robot: the Knightscope 5. For the occasion, the city’s mayor Eric Adams himself presented the new recruit.
The New York police welcome a robot into its ranks
As you can see from the photos, don’t expect a Robocop or a Terminator. No, we are even rather far from Tesla’s Optimus, the robot presenting itself more like a large motorized fridge. As the mayor of the American metropolis specifies, the Knighscope 5 will have the mission of patrolling the Times Square subway stationone of the busiest in the world, between midnight and 6 a.m.
Accompanied at all times by a police officer, the robot’s mission will be to film the surroundings in order to provide video clips to the police in the event of an incident. The idea according to Eric Adam is above all to deter criminal acts. Because, the robot does not really think to carry out interventions, first of all because of its significant weight (more than 180 kg) and its limited speed set at 4.8 km/h. “We take the existing technology – the cameras, the ability to communicate with people – and we put it on wheels,” explains the mayor.
No facial recognition or AI according to the mayor
If it has been assured that the robot would not use facial recognition software (it does not carry artificial intelligence either), the mayor of the city confirmed thathe was able to communicate with the NYPD. “The K5 has a button that immediately connects you to a live person, which New Yorkers can use 24/7 to ask questions, raise concerns, or report an incident if necessary ”, specifies the councilor.
Finally, note that the NYPD did not acquire this robot. No, the institution rents the K5 from the specialized company Knightscope, for a price of 9 dollars an hour. A necessity according to Eric Adam due to the significant budget restrictions of the NYPD, which was only $5.83 billion for the 2023 fiscal year.
Source: Vice