In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, the Honolulu Police Department became a topic of debate when it purchased a robot dog for $150,000 using federal relief funds. Known as Spot, this four-legged machine was initially meant to perform temperature checks at a city-operated homeless encampment. The expenditure attracted so much criticism that HPD leaders had to justify the purchase to the Honolulu City Council in 2021. They argued that the robot had the potential for myriad uses in the future, beyond just addressing the pandemic.
Fast forward four years, and Spot is now inactive. “The department still has the robotic dog but is not deploying it at this time,” said HPD spokesperson Michelle Yu in an email. Apparently, Spot hasn’t been deployed since 2021, and the department is presently unsure how to maximize its capabilities. “In-house programmers are evaluating its software to explore future applications, like surveillance and search operations,” Yu added.
The robot was bought with funds from Honolulu’s $386 million allocation of federal CARES Act money, with $40 million being funneled to HPD by then-mayor Kirk Caldwell. In addition to Spot, HPD invested millions in trucks, ATVs, and overtime initiatives to enforce park closures, while residents struggled to access financial aid meant for rent and childcare. “Investing in a robot instead of people is not only worrying financially but also from a humanistic perspective,” said Camron Hurt from Common Cause Hawaii. “We should’ve prioritized people.”
Wookie Kim from the ACLU Hawai?i argued that the shelving of Spot confirms earlier public sentiment that the purchase was unnecessary. “HPD’s buying approach was backward,” he stated, adding it was akin to acquiring a tool without identifying a problem that needed addressing. “It very clearly was a toy,” he added.
Mike Lambert, the former officer involved in the decision and now director of Hawaii’s Department of Law Enforcement, did not respond to queries. Assistant Chief Darren Chun highlighted that Spot did serve its purpose initially. In 2021, Spot was utilized over 100 times for activities like contactless temperature checks and remote medical consultations at the city’s Provisional Outdoor Screening and Triage program (POST), which allowed homeless individuals to legally camp overnight under police and service oversight. “These measures helped reduce the Covid-19 risk for everyone involved,” Chun noted.
The ACLU, however, regarded utilizing robots for healthcare with the homeless as “dehumanizing,” according to Kim. Spot was later transferred to HPD’s Major Events Division and, subsequently, its IT division in May 2024, Yu mentioned. Following scrutiny of HPD’s CARES Act spending, the U.S. Treasury Office of the Inspector General reviewed the case and deemed Spot’s purchase permissible.
Spot can be augmented with diverse tools including cameras, sensors, thermal imaging, and hazard detectors, with police departments nationwide acquiring such robots for operations like SWAT missions. Hurt sees potential for Spot in tasks like patrolling parks or monitoring neighborhoods for property crimes. “Why aren’t these capabilities being utilized?” he questioned.
Still, there are growing concerns nationwide about the surveillance potential and the risk of these robots being weaponized. Kim cautioned against the possibility of such technology being misused, potentially violating civil rights. “It’s like a hammer seeing everything as a nail. It’s better to dispose of it than to force utility upon it,” Kim warned.
