NYPD Purchases 14 Throwbots | Officer

NEW YORK — Mayor Adams’ administration spent $222,000 this summer to purchase 14 “throwing robots” for the NYPD, giving the department… increased use robotic technology in law enforcement.

Check out our Technology eHandbook

The devices, used by many branches of the U.S. military and allied forces, can withstand being dropped from a height of 30 feet onto concrete. website The manufacturer is based in Minnesota Rediscovery Robotics.

An NYPD official said Wednesday that the department Emergency Service Unit, Responding to a variety of critical incidents, the new robots will be used “in a variety of ways, including assisting in the response to barricaded individuals, emotionally disturbed individuals, and other dangerous events, and enhancing the safety of gathering information at the scene of an emergency.”

Equipped with audio and visual capabilities, the two-wheeled microrobots are designed to launch into dangerous situations to conduct reconnaissance. ReconRobotics boasts on its website that it has provided the Ukrainian military with the devices to aid the country in its war against Russia.

According to procurement records reviewed by the Daily News, the company was awarded a contract to supply 14 launch boat devices to the NYPD on July 31. The records show the Citywide Administrative Services Department purchased the boats on behalf of the NYPD, spending $222,616.

DCAS, which occasionally purchases equipment for other city agencies, forwarded the comments to the NYPD.

ReconRobotics CEO Mack Trainor said his company has provided robotics technology to the NYPD before, most recently in 2019, but the July purchase was the first under the Adams administration.

Trainor echoed the NYPD official in an interview, saying the robots provided under the new contract are expected to be used by: section In a wide range of scenarios, including everything from bomb scares and reconnaissance missions in hostage situations to inspecting a residence before serving a search warrant. ReconRobotics mostly contracts with militaries and federal agencies, but the firm counts the NYPD as well as several other local police agencies as clients, Trainor said.

“You get a 911 call and there’s a broken window, do you want to climb in there and see what’s going on or do you send a robot in to see what’s going on?” he told The News. “You don’t want to stick your nose in there, you want to send a robot in.”

The purchase of the shooting boots comes after Adams began making greater use of cutting-edge technology a hallmark of his administration.

Under Adams, city agencies have significantly expanded their use of drones, including: Emergency Management an agency that commissions them to send flood warning messages to New Yorkers in low-lying areas Tropical Storm Debby He arrived last month.

The administration has also deployed robots for various law enforcement purposes, such as dispatch and management 4ft surveillance robot Patrolling the Times Square subway station and the NYPD’s controversial “digital-dog.”

Civil rights advocates have criticized the administration’s robotics efforts, questioning the usefulness of the devices and saying they are an invasion of privacy for New Yorkers.

Civil rights attorney Albert Fox Cahn, Surveillance Technology Audit ProjectHe argued Wednesday that the new launch boats fit a broader pattern of what he described as “flashy but ultimately useless” technology purchased by Adams’ administration.