NYPD ends contract with robot 'Digidog' following community backlash

(@akadennews/ Twitter)

By Isoken Osagie

(MANHATTAN, N.Y.) The New York City Police Department is getting rid of its robot dog after facing backlash from the community.

According to the New York Times, the department canceled its contract with the robot’s creator, Boston Dynamics, on April 22. The contract, worth roughly $94,000, was terminated four months before it was set to expire.

The Digidog came under fire when it was used as part of the response to a home invasion in the Bronx in February.

Again, in April, officers used it at a public housing building in Manhattan and critics compared the robot machine to a dystopian surveillance drone as well as the television show "Black Mirror," a series on Netflix that explores techno-paranoia.

Many questioned why the robot dog was even used and described the event as an example of how the department aggressively over-polices poor communities.

Mr. Kallos, a Democrat who represents the Upper East Side, said the Digidog's presence in New York underscored what he called the "militarization of the police," per the NYT.

Others questioned why a machine worth thousands of dollars was needed to begin with.

One Twitter user said, "Over $70k for just one of these NYPD robotic dogs. Meanwhile, agencies across the city that deliver essential services and programs are facing cuts. #DefundThePolice."

"At a time where we should be having more beat cops on the street, building relationships with residents, they’re actually headed in another direction in trying to replace them with robots," added Kallos.

A spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio, Bill Neidhardt, said he was "glad the Digidog was put down."

"It’s creepy, alienating and sends the wrong message to New Yorkers," added Neidhardt.

On Wednesday, a Boston Dynamics spokeswoman said its robots were "not designed to be used as weapons, inflict harm or intimidate people or animals," per NYT.

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