Mayor Adams & NYPD Launch $9 Per Hour Robocop For City Streets
The NYPD unveiled its most recent addition to its advanced crime-fighting arsenal in Times Square on Friday—a security robot driven by artificial intelligence.
This egg-shaped robotic device, accompanied by an NYPD officer, will navigate the Midtown subway station for the next two months as part of an introductory program, according to city officials.
“We’re committed to exploring innovative tools to maintain our city as the safest major city in America, and this robot K5, it has the potential to be a valuable addition to our toolkit,” Mayor Eric Adams stated during a press briefing on Friday morning.
Operating for an extended 18-hour shift, commencing at 6 a.m., this robot, weighing over 400 pounds, will serve as a mobile surveillance system, capturing video footage with its 360 HD camera for police to review in the aftermath of incidents.
While it will continuously record video during its patrols, authorities clarify that it will not record audio.
Mayor Adams clarified that the robot, which includes a license plate reader, does not possess real-time facial recognition technology, and any captured video will adhere to the same guidelines as any other technology in the NYPD’s existing toolkit.
The K5 robot was leased by the city for a six-month period.
“New Yorkers have diverse perspectives on technology,” Adams acknowledged, adding, “And while I believe it is our responsibility to employ cutting-edge technological advancements to enhance the safety of New Yorkers, I also believe that we should do so with prudence and without intrusion.”
According to police policy, officers may employ images from the robot’s video recordings to run through the facial recognition system for potential crime suspects, similar to the use of other surveillance footage collected by the police.
The K5 Autonomous Security Robot is also equipped with a button for subway passengers to summon the police and features numerous microphones.
Under Mayor Adams’ leadership, the NYPD has embraced technological advancements, recently acquiring a new fleet of drones and obtaining the Boston Dynamics DigiDog, a move that had faced criticism under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration.
Adams presented this new technology on Friday morning.
The robot was leased by the NYPD for six months at a cost of $12,500, funded through forfeiture funds, as announced back in April when the police department introduced its new robotic additions.
Its initial task begins Friday night, during which it will map out the station for two weeks before commencing its patrol duties, according to City Hall.
It’s worth noting that this robot, assigned to the main station area rather than the platform, has a somewhat checkered service history. In 2016, it was involved in an incident where it ran over a child’s foot in California, and in 2017, it was reported to have fallen into a water fountain in a DC mall.
Mayor Adams frequently cited a cost of $9 per hour to operate the robot, although it was unclear how this figure was determined. It seems to be based on the company’s pitch when the robots were first launched in 2015, claiming they cost half as much as typical security personnel. At that time, the robots’ “wages” were reported as $6.25 per hour, according to Knightscope CEO Stacy Stephens.
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