Residents voice concerns during San Francisco killer robot debate
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) -- As the words 'killer robot' continue to dominate the headlines, Evante Daniels came to a special town hall at Manny's in San Francisco's Mission, to voice his concerns. He moved to San Francisco from Atlanta two years ago.
"This is my home now, and I believe in having an invested stake in my community," said Daniels. "I want to see my city thrive and flourish"
One of the topics Evante was especially concerned about was San Francisco Supervisors' upcoming second vote on Tuesday, allowing the San Francisco police department's use of deadly force with remote-controlled robots.
"This relieves a lot of stress for me anytime there's a lot of vagueness especially in a Black Lives Matter kind of space, it leads to a lot of insecurity and questions for me as a person of color," said Daniels.
Debra Walker with the San Francisco Police Commission was there on her own to hear everyone's comments.
She also cleared up some misconceptions, saying the police force has had these robots for a decade and has never used them.
"One of the big jokes tonight was killer robots and essentially Skynet coming to San Francisco which is always a joke and to hear the robots been around for 10 years and they're not using AI and they're not gonna do any of that stuff," said Daniels. "I was able to text five of my friends immediately and be like hey here's something that was not in the articles cuz it probably wasn't in the press release."
Civil rights, racial justice and labor groups took to San Francisco City Hall Monday morning to demand elected officials reject authorizing SFPD robots to use deadly force.
In a written statement, The Executive Director of Californians for Safety and Justice Tinisch Hollins had this to say:
"San Francisco leaders must stop politicizing the issue of public safety and focus on the immediate needs of the people."
Meanwhile, back at Manny's, the community conversation brought more awareness and understanding from both sides.
"Learning more about these killer robots," said Precious Green, Manny's Director of Programming. "It's so strange to say that but learning more about these robots and the fact that it isn't some sort of new program. It's been here all along and now we're finally coming up with the guidelines. Doesn't make me feel like it's totally OK but at least I feel like I'm a more informed member of the community."
Lawmakers will hold their final vote on the policy, Tuesday. If approved, it goes to Mayor Breed for her final approval.