Subscribe to our Daily Digest newsletter. Join the more than 9,000 readers who rely on Daily Digest for the latest happenings. Our newsletter is free and arrives in your inbox on weekday mornings. I hope you try it. -- Jesus Sanchez, Publisher
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
The Los Angeles City Council voted 8-4 today to approve the donation of a so-called robot dog for use by the Los Angeles Police Department following more than an hour of public comment against the device and criticism from a council member.
The council moved to accept the donation with an amendment introduced by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky to ensure the LAPD provide quarterly reports regarding the deployment of the device. In addition, the council will "closely monitor" the $277,917 Quadruped Unmanned Ground Vehicle and ultimately modify the deployment policy or suspend the use of the device at any time.
Council members Heather Hutt, Curren Price, Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martinez voted against the donation. Council members Eunisses Hernandez, who had previously voiced her opposition to the robot, and Marqueece Harris-Dawson were absent from Tuesday's City Council meeting.
"You know, this is highly disturbing automation of law enforcement that sets a dangerous precedent for our future in our community safety," said Soto-Martinez.
The device, built by Boston Dynamics is used mostly in industrial settings. It was offered as a donation to the LAPD's Metropolitan Division by the Los Angeles Police Foundation.
An LAPD report indicated unarmed technology was deployed 39 times in various parts of the city.
"Obviously, one of the concerns expressed in the last council meeting was whether technology used by us was disproportionately being utilized in some neighborhoods of Los Angeles," said David Kowlaski, deputy chief for the LAPD. But he said a review found no specific trends or patterns on how it was deployed.
Soto-Martinez refuted that it "just isn't true," as LAPD unarmed devices were deployed more often in Hollywood and South Central compared to some of L.A.'s more affluent neighborhoods and communities.
LAPD representatives previously assured that the device would be used only in SWAT situations, hazardous-materials or search-and-rescue operations. Police also insisted the robot will never be equipped with any sort of weapons or facial-recognition technology, nor would it be used in any type of patrol operations.
In a statement, the LAPD said the agency will be using the QUGV robot in the coming months, following training and testing.
209 Monthly Reader Sponsors and Counting!
We are grateful to all those who have made financial contributions to The Eastsider. One-time contributions are always welcome, but we encourage you to join the ranks of our Reader Sponsors who have committed to making a monthly contribution.
Our goal is to have 300 Reader Sponsors by the end of 2023.
Why is this so important? Even a small monthly contribution will create a more stable source of revenue, giving us more confidence to commit to expanding our staff to provide you with more of the community news you can’t find anywhere else.
Join The Eastsider 300
I hope we can count on you. And, if you are not ready for a monthly commitment, you can always make a one-time contribution. Thanks!
—Jesús Sanchez, Publisher
PS: The Eastsider is a private company. Your contribution is NOT tax deductible.
The Eastsider is a subscriber to City News Service, the country's largest regional news service covering Southern California. CNS reporters and editors staff provide news coverage 24 hours a day.
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Stay on top of the news with our Daily Digest newsletter. Just enter your email address below and hit the Sign Up button. FYI: We don't sell our email lists to protect your privacy.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Post a comment as Guest
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.