NYPD Reverses Course After New Yorkers Freak Out at Police ‘Robodog’ Reminiscent of Black Mirror Episode

Photo by JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP via Getty Images.

Frequently when a story breaks about some new type of technology, Twitter users will joke that it reminds them of an episode of Black Mirror, the Netflix sci-fi series that examines the potential dystopian horror that tech can bring. The New York Police Department has now learned what happens when people think you’re literally trying to bring a Black Mirror episode to life. Spoiler alert: they’re not happy about it.

According to Wired, the NYPD had leased a “Digidog,” a four-legged robotic canine, from Boston Dynamics last year, similar to the Boston Dynamics robot shown in the featured photo with this article. The contract was $94,000 and the NYPD nicknamed the robo-pup “Spot.”

The intention was to use Spot for reconnaissance in dangerous situations, such as a potential gas leak, explosive device, or downed power line.

All good, right? Nope.

Spot reminded New Yorkers of a Black Mirror episode from the fourth season, “Metalhead,” and for good reason. The scriptwriter, Charlie Brooker, was inspired by demonstration videos of Boston Dynamics’ robot dogs, literally the same device that Spot was.

The NYPD was not legally required to seek city council approval to lease the robodog, and therefore Spot was not reviewed during the usual public comment phase for new purchases. Wired reported that the NYPD kept Spot’s details relatively quiet, burying the budget line item with other “situational awareness cameras,” and no images.

Then Spot was used to defuse a hostage situation in the Bronx, and video of the incident quickly went viral, Spot’s nimble legs and camera-head giving people eerie reminders of the Black Mirror robot dogs.

The Black Mirror dogs were armed and programmed to kill, and NYPD’s Spot was unarmed and designed merely for surveillance, but the NYPD’s failure to inform New Yorkers about the new robotic critter prowling their streets caused alarm and outrage.

Boston Dynamics’ own policies prohibit purchasing their Digidogs and attaching weapons to them, but in an era of heightened concern about criminal justice and police over-militarization, the video images were hard to overlook.

“And springing a robot on people has consequences,” as Wired pointed out. “[I]n many ways the NYPD’s own actions were a blueprint for how not to introduce new tech.”