NYPD Unleashes Robot Dog, Advocates Howl

NEW YORK CITY — Big Brother's best friend is back in the NYPD, advocates howled Tuesday.

Digidog, a $75,000 Boston Dynamics robotic police dog, will be readopted by the city's police department, said Mayor Eric Adams in a Times Square that quickly drew an outcry.

The "dog" had a brief, controversial stint on the force in 2021 before an outcry prompted former Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration to cut it short.

Adams dismissed the past concerns — which centered around unwanted surveillance, cost and the robot's "creepy" vibe — as the wailing of a minority of New Yorkers.

"A few loud people were opposed to it and we took a step back — that’s not how I operate," he said.

"Digidog is now out of the pound."

Minutes after Digidog strutted in front of Adams and the media in Times Square, advocates with The Legal Aid Society snapped back.

"Mayor Adams continues to pour money into the NYPD’s bloated budget, enabling police to impose new, dystopian surveillance technologies throughout the city without meaningfully engaging New Yorkers in a conversation about whether this is how we want to live," they said, calling for City Council oversight hearings.

The robotic dog will only be used for hostage situations, bomb threats, counterterrorism operations and other scenarios in which the best course is to send a robot rather than a human being, said Jeff Maddrey, the NYPD's chief of department.

Maddrey said only the chief of department — that is, himself — can give the directive to use it.

"This is a lifesaving device," he said.

While Digidog won't be used for patrols, NYPD officials and Adams also unveiled a robot that could be a more common sight in the city.

The K5 autonomous security robot — an egg-shaped machine from Knightscope that uses artificial intelligence, 360-degree cameras and other sensors — will be used either in Times Square or subway stations starting June or July as part of a pilot program, Maddrey said.

The robot was nicknamed the "snitchBOT" when Lowes stores in Pennsylvania started using it, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The NYPD will lease the K5 robots and outright buy two Digidogs for $750,000 with forefeiture money, police officials said.