Police and bomb disposal squads have been using robots to investigate suspicious packages|Thomas Hawk|CC BY-NC 2.0
Officials in San Francisco voted to grant the city's police the power to use remote-operated, potentially lethal robots equipped with explosive charges in emergency situations.
The 8-3 vote in favor of the move will grant permission for the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) to use armed robots only if alternative forces and other de-escalation tactics have failed to save or prevent the loss of innocent lives.
The new law would require police to acquire explicit authorization from high-ranking officers before using the robots as a deadly force option.