Reporting from the well-known winter hell-hole that is Hawaii . . .
Yes indeed, toys for the boys. But could that fascination preclude becoming a police officer? The purchase by the Honolulu PD of a $150,000 piece of robotic hardware/software capable of military missions raises that question. Spot the robo-dog is currently replacing an $11 thermometer as it roams haunts of people who are homeless in Hawaii and takes temperatures.
We know what the police need from Spot — or at least what they pretend they need — to avoid a possible exposure to COVID. And what fun to try it out! Read more in VICE: Police Outsourcing Human Interaction With Homeless People to Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dog
Last summer, as robo-dogs roamed the halls of New York Public Housing Authority buildings during a robo-dog experiment, we heard about different policing ‘needs.’ More toys, more fun1!
Somewhere, undoubtedly, police forces are also taking into account what their homeless clients need, not just their officers. But neither the Hawaii nor the New York robotic-dog experiments seem to place much of an emphasis on the needs of the homeless, or the tenants, themselves.
Indeed, we’ve recently focussed on a police force and individual officers who have invested considerable care and attention to what people who are homeless need. It’s a story from a place that can from time to time can indeed be a real winter hell-hole — one that demands considerable sacrifice from those dedicated to keeping the homeless alive and healthy under difficult conditions. It could not be more different than either of the robo-dog examples: real civic needs, real challenges to meet them by real police officers. Try: Street Outreach In A Frozen Hellscape: Words Or Welfare? Whatever’s Needed
