Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said Tuesday that the ACLU found out Massachusetts State Police were using a dog-like robot from a social media post on the law enforcement agency's Facebook page.
Rose told Boston Public Radio on Tuesday the agency has concerns about the "secrecy" of the operation.
"There are instances where you might want to have a robot go in if there's chemical spill or nuclear spill, but for day-to-day policing, we learned during the civil rights movement how scary dogs can be. Imagine a robotic dog being turned on the civilian population. It's truly terrifying," Rose said.
Boston Dynamics launched the four-legged robot, which they call Spot, in September. After the ACLU found out about the State Police's use of the dog-like robot, they filed public records requests seeking more information. Rose said they learned that law enforcement loaned 'Spot' for three months, using it as a remote observation device, and that the State Police have relationships with a handful of other robotics companies.
"When law enforcement wants to employ new technology, it's really important the people they're hired to serve and protect — that's us — know about it, and it's transparent and open," said Rose. "That'll give us an opportunity if we want to to put restrictions on how these things are deployed."
The ACLU of Massachusetts has launched a campaign for "Civilian Control of Police Surveillance," which they say empowers local city councils to decide how surveillance technologies are used. So far, Somerville, Cambridge, Lawrence have passed CCOPS laws.
