Tactical Robot Helps Royal Oak Police Defuse Standoff Situatiion

The Oakland County Sheriff's smallest team member wasn't afraid to dive into Royal Oak's tense standoff situation last week.

A small robot was used to send reconnaissance information back to fellow officers and help track down a person inside a Sprague Avenue home that police believed might be connected to a suspicious death in Franklin.

Oakland County Sheriff's Detective Frank Lenz, a self-described "geeky tech guy," handles the robot. He has been with Oakland County Sheriff's SWAT team for nine years.

Taking cover from a neighboring house last Tuesday, Lenz deployed the stair-climbing metal robot, which can send back real-time video to its handler. Operated by remote control, the robot has a camera that operates in the infrared spectrum—for low-light situations—and can pick up audio. It also gives Lenz the ability to speak to suspects.

"When it's deployed it interacts as though it's a person," Lenz said.

The detective was able to drive the robot around every room on the first level of the Royal Oak home and give the floor plan to operators entering the house so they could have a layout in their head.

"That's huge intelligence for an operator making entry," Lenz said.

Because the robot sits low to the ground, when it went into the master bedroom it could not see a man identified as Thomas Ian Matthews, dead of a self-inflicted wound, on the bed. The robot then went into the basement.

The robot did not record any movement on either floor, so Lenz double-checked his tracks and noticed nothing had changed. At that point operators made entry and found Matthews.

"The robot is really good for intelligence gathering without putting an operator in danger," Lenz said. 

Last September, the robot was used in a standoff with a gunman in West Bloomfield that resulted in the death Officer Patrick O'Rourke. 

"The robot was deployed to the second floor and within minutes the suspect was shooting through the walls at the noise the robot was making," Lenz said. "It was very important knowledge—to know there was someone who would shoot at any noise or motion." 

The robot stayed on the second floor during the lengthy police situation and monitored the only door the gunman could use for egress.

"For a hostage or barricaded situation, there's no need to put anyone in harm's way. If they shoot a robot, so what," Lenz said.

Measuring approximately 18-inches by 24-inches by 6-inches tall, Oakland County's robot was purchased eight years ago for $30,000, Lenz said. It is used in police situations approximately eight times per year.

The detective said Oakland County is looking into getting a second robot that could reach heights of 8 feet and have a lever arm with the ability to open doors. 

"Everyone is always fascinated by robots, but I have been doing this for so long that, for me, it's just another day at work," he said.