http://mashable.com/2016/09/16/gun-robot-standoff
Robots have been used for everything from greeting bank customers to grabbing a slice of pizza — and now they seem to be venturing further into law enforcement.
A six-hour police standoff in a Southern California desert ended on Sept. 8 when a robot was used by police to take away the rifle of an attempted murder suspect.
The special weapons team from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department made the call after the suspect, 52-year-old Ray B. Bunge, refused to surrender. He has since been charged with attempted murder, criminal threats, assault with a deadly weapon / firearm, robbery and felony vandalism.
During the standoff, Bunge was lying in a "dark open field" in the desert of Antelope Valley, California, when the robot stealthily, quietly snatched the gun sitting next to his feet, according to a Facebook post from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.
Police had lost track of Bunge before using a helicopter and special weapons team to find him in a dirt area surrounded by shrubs and fence wiring. That's when they tried distracting Bunge and sending in the robot.
"He looked up and realized his gun was gone and he was exposed."
"While his attention was focused on the vehicles in front of him, the team deployed a robot from behind the suspect's position," the Facebook post explains.
The robot picked up the gun without Bunge noticing before pulling away the fence wiring that had been covering him. At that moment, Bunge finally gave up.
Well, that's a big improvement over sending in a robot with a suicide vest like they did in Dallas.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday September 19 2016, @05:04PM
I am seriously confused by the idea that an armed suspect in a standoff with police would let a robot surprise him and disarm him considering the current tech in police robots and how noisy they generally are, which makes the thing a bit suspicious while being better than having him get shot from the air as could have happened if the cops had been pissed and wanted to go home, or just prevent me from contrasting with your short sentences; also, could someone clean up all those espresso cups which clutter my desk?
(Score: 2) by Hawkwind on Monday September 19 2016, @09:09PM