Read the original article by Gulam Nilanjana Gupta on the Khaleej Times or read some of the key points below;
- The Dubai police has let the first robot police officer go on duty, giving the task of patrolling the city’s malls and tourists attractions. The robot officer, a customised Reem model from Pal Robotics was unveiled at the Gulf Information and Security Expo and Conference on Sunday.
- According to Dubai government, its aim was for 25% of the force to be robotic by 2030 but they would not replace humans.
- This smart police officer can reach the public 24/7 rather than people visiting the police stations and customer services. It can protect people from crime because it can broadcast what is happening right way to the command and control centre. At present the officer can communicate in Arabic and English, but the authorities are in plans to add Russian, Chinese, French and Spanish to its repertoire.
- Brig Khalid Al Razooqi, the director general of smart services at Dubai police said that they are not going to replace police officers with the robot, adding that with number of people increasing in Dubai, they want to relocate police officers so that they work in the right areas and can focus on providing a safe city.
- The government of Dubai said that a second Reem robot could join it on patrol in 2018 depending on funding.
