File under 'high-tech urban dystopia.”
After public backlash, an "autonomous security robot" deployed to ward off homeless people has been retired.
"The San Francisco SPCA, an animal advocacy and pet adoption group, put a security robot to work outside its facilities in the gentrifying Mission neighborhood … to deter homeless people from setting up camps along the sidewalks," reports Business Insider.
The robot, K9—which is plastered in pictures of cute animals—is part of a fleet created by Mountain View startup Knightscope. They're used by companies including Uber and Microsoft as a cheaper, "superhuman" replacement for human security guards.
"The company's robots don't fight humans," Business Insider assures readers. "They use equipment like lasers, cameras, a thermal sensor, and GPS to detect criminal activity and alert the authorities."
That wasn't enough to placate the many people who expressed outrage and disappointment on Twitter before the bot was retired; some expressed particular frustration that the anti-homeless campaign was launched by an animal shelter.
FULL STORY: Robots are being used to deter homeless people from setting up camp in San Francisco
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If the Supreme Court hears an appeal of a landmark U.S. Ninth Circuit Court case settled in April, the ruling would have widespread implications for dealing with homeless encampments throughout the West, perhaps nowhere more so than Los Angeles.
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Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
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Transit Riders Face the Highest Safety Risks in These 10 States
According to federal data, the average number of safety incidents on public transportation averaged 55.2 per 100,000 people across all states between 2010 and 2023. Which states came in well above the national average?
How California Transit Agencies are Addressing Rider Harassment
Safety and harassment are commonly cited reasons passengers, particularly women and girls, avoid public transit.
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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
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