The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has proposed a new policy that would give robots permission to kill, as reported by Mission Local.
The draft of the new policy, describes how the SFPD may use military-style weapons, and states that the robots could be "used as a lethal option when there is an immediate risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers and supersedes all other options for action."
As Mission Local reported, members of the city's Board of Supervisors' Rules Committee have been reviewing the new equipment policy for several weeks.
The original version of the draft did not include anything about robots using lethal force, and Aaron Peskin, dean of the city's board of supervisors, said that “robots should not be used to use violence against any person. "
However, the SFPD created a new draft with a red line that disagreed with Peskin's view, calling for robots to be allowed to kill suspects.
According to Mission Local, Peskin ultimately decided to accept the change because "there could be scenarios where the use of deadly force was the only option." San Francisco's rules committee unanimously approved a version of the plan last week, which will go before the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 29.
