CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Charleston Police Department has a new robot to keep the community safe in hostage type situations.
The robot — standing about three feet tall — is equipped with six cameras, a microphone, can open doors and move up and down stairs, according to Chief of Detectives Lt. Steve Cooper.
In the wake of the fatal shooting in Dallas, Texas earlier this month, city police said owning a robot was necessary. Dallas officers used one of their robots to defuse a bomb to kill the shooter, but Charleston police said using a robot to kill a suspect would largely depend on the circumstances.
Cooper was a guest on Friday’s “580 Live” hosted by Charleston Mayor Danny Jones. He said, fortunately, they haven’t had to use the robot yet, which is a good thing.
“If we never use it, that’s great,” Cooper said. “That means no one’s taking hostages, no one’s hurt and we can’t get to them.”
The department was given a grant to purchase the robot for a price a tag of $100,000. The Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office also has a robot of their own that they bought in December 2015.
“It’s in a secure facility with some of our weapons and SWAT gear,” Cooper said.
“They (officers) do train with it frequently. They’re very impressed with it.”
Since Dallas, a discussion has been taking place about the dangers of robots for police departments nationwide.