$226K Robot Dog Used By St. Pete Police Department Is 3rd Of Its Kind In Country

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — There's a new dog in town that's high-tech and here to help save lives with the St. Petersburg Police Department.

Spot showed reporters at a news conference held at the St. Pete Police Department Monday on First Avenue South he can sit, roll over, get up, hold things in his mouth like a cell phone, open doors, run at 4 miles per hour and has a 360-degree camera allowing officers to see an entire room. (A video of Spot is at the bottom of this article.)

Spot cannot bite. He doesn't have teeth and is controlled by a remote that looks similar to a Playstation controller.

The St. Pete Police Department is the third police agency in the nation to have this version of a high-tech remote-control robotic dog, police said.

The $226,000 robotic dog will be used to respond to risky situations such as active shooter response, hostage standoffs, search and rescue in an unstable building, exposure to biological or chemical hazards, mass casualty incidents and natural disasters, Police Chief Anthony Holloway explained.

"If any of our Tampa Bay area police agencies find themselves in a situation that Spot would be appropriate for, we will loan him to them," Holloway said.

The chief believes Spot will help decrease police-force shootings by sending Spot into a high-risk situation instead of an officer.

The St. Petersburg Police Department Said Spot Will Be Used For The Following Situations:

• Used to de-escalate intense situations or standoffs, avoid use of force or any situation putting an officer or the suspect at risk with gunfire.
• Deployed under the supervision of the SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) commander or assistant commander during authorized SWAT operations.
• Has a camera so that the operation can "see" what's in front of Spot and control its movements from a safe distance.
• Has an intercom, allowing the operator to speak with and hear a person involved in a. high-risk situation. This would be especially useful in situations where a suspect is barricaded in a building or is holding hostages, said Major David Gerardo, who oversees the SWAT team.
• The robotic dog can move over rough or uneven terrain.
• Spot is not a weapon and doesn't carry anything that can harm people or animals, officers said.
• Spot would also be available for fire rescue situations where it's unsafe to deploy fire department personnel.

Spot Will NOT Be Used For The Following

Crowd control, routine police calls, surveillance or intelligence-gathering outside of an identified high-risk situation, traffic control or any action to intimidate or coerce any person not involved in a high-risk incident.

Which Money Was Used To Pay For Spot?

Holloway said no public funds were used to purchase the robotic dog. Brett Vickers and Lisa Speer Vickers, both residents of St. Pete and owners of Realty ONE Group Sunshine, purchased Spot through their Speer Foundation.

Training For Spot

Gerardo told a Patch reporter the SWAT team will constantly train with the robot. The main controllers at the time of the press conference are Detective Josh Adams and Field Training Officer Chea Lance, who also demonstrated Spot's abilities to reporters at the conference.

The vendor of Spot spent two days training the team on his basics, Gerardo said.

Lance said the camera on the robotic device can be compared to a car's camera detecting objects near it.

What's The Difference Between Spot And The Older Model, Robotex Avatar?

• The older robot could not maneuver around obstacles on its own.
• Spot can right itself if it falls over.
• 360-cameras
• Intercom for remote 2-way communication

See Spot in action below (Video Created By Skyla Luckey)