Board approves police equipment policy but removes authorization for robots to use deadly force; robot provisions sent back to committee

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Dec. 6 approved an ordinance that adopts a new Police Department equipment policy while amending the measure to prohibit the use of remotely operated robots as a deadly-force option. The board also sent the remainder of the ordinance's robot provisions back to the Rules Committee for further consideration.

The measure, which amends the Administrative Code and approves the police department's equipment policy, drew extended debate and several votes after supervisors duplicated the file to separate the contentious robot language from the rest of the measure. The board ultimately approved the policy on first reading with an amendment that states robots "will not be used as a deadly force option." The vote on that amendment was 8-3; the final vote on the amended ordinance passed with all 11 supervisors voting aye. The duplicated file containing the full robot section was referred back to…