Dubai rolls out autonomous police cars to go alongside its robot police officers

By Matthew Griffin Robo Revolution 30th November 2017

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

Technology is changing the world of law enforcement and it’s important to experiment with new ideas that provide low visibility but highly effective policing.

A couple of weeks ago, and following on from the deployment of the regions first robot police officer at the Dubai Mall, the police force in Dubai, who want 25 percent of the force to be “robotic” by 2030, unveiled another small addition to their team – a small autonomous patrol car that will scour the city’s streets looking for criminals and suspicious objects. It will start duty by the end of the year.

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The autonomous police car uses 360 degree surveillance technology and will be programmed to patrol specific areas, using a battery of biometric scanners to look for and identify suspects, identify suspicious objects, and in the event that a criminal chooses to leg it and run away from it, it comes with its own mini drone that it can launch to give chase.

Mind You Don’t Reverse Over It

The robot, named the O-R3, was developed by Singapore start up OTSAW Digital, and while it isn’t set to fully replace human officers the idea is that it can perform low level patrols and surveillance work in tourist areas.

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“Essentially, we aim for the streets to be safe and peaceful without the need to deploy a heavy police patrol,” said Dubai police chief Major General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri.

Next time you go to Dubai keep an eye out for them and make sure you don’t trip over it – or you might get a ticket.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.