The NYPD’s recent use of a robotic dog has prompted elected officials to criticize the police department’s surveillance equipment, while police maintained the department has done nothing wrong.
“The time has come for the federal government to step in,” Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat, said Saturday.
Albert Fox Cahn of the*Surveillance Oversight Technology Project spoke about its potential.
“This is digital stop and frisk, nothing less,” he said.*“And when we look at Digidog, this dystopian surveillance tool, brought into New Yorkers houses, it hasn’t done anything to keep us safe.”
The police department said critics are barking up the wrong tree.*
“Because the robot is being tested for use in hostage, terrorism bomb and hazmat situations, it was properly classified as a confidential expenditure,” the NYPD said in a statement to PIX11 News. “The use of the robot was properly reported for public disclosure under the POST Act and is listed on the public facing website.”
