Robot police is enforcing the law in Dubai. Custodian of the traffic, guarding the roads against notorious speedsters. It’s almost unreal like a nerd fantasy of near-distant post-apocalyptic future.

While robocops have been popular in many sci-fi movies, novels and series, the rapid progression in technology are making it a reality.

Prior announcements

The head of Dubai’s Smart Policing unit, Colonel Khalid Nasser Alrazooqui addressed an assembled audience during a precursory speech to reveal the prototype at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) in October last year noted that the objective of unveiling these robot officers is to offer the ever expanding population improved services without having to hire more manforce.

It was disclosed that the robots are sociable, can salute as well as shake hands and help the public in payments of traffic fines and submission of paperwork.

Earlier this year, the Dubai Police force confirmed that by the end of the month May the first robot police officer will begin patrolling in the extravagant Emirati city.

The arrival of the Robocops

Dissimilar to the fictional superhuman cyborg RoboCop from the 1987 film, these Robot police androids are simply like security guards at malls who will deal with minor public issues and not hunt down assassins.

On the 24th of May, Dubai Police started a trial period by introducing the earliest batch of robocops designed by Spain’s PAL Robotics to patrol the streets of Dubai. And let’s just say at a quick glance they seem to put human cops to shame.

Apparently, these cops are programmed to speak six different languages, including English and Arabic. They have chests mounted with a touch screen to assist the citizens in paying penalties and accessing public information through custom built software. To top it off their eyes can monitor emotions, recognize hand signs and also run an 80 percent accurate facial identification.

Starting on the 24th of May the robot officers have been patrolling tourist places and malls in Dubai. A set of wheels and camera give them the ability to explore and map out landscapes of infrastructures without any aid or manual help.

Threatened future of the human force

The government of Dubai are trying to embrace and invest in futuristic technologies to gradually sail away from simply relying on the economy that was built on oil. And these fleet of smart police androids should help them do just that.

Even though during the 2016 unveiling at GITEX the Dubai Police did mention their intentions to recruit or rather build enough robots to replace 25 percent of its force with robots by the year 2030. But at the moment, during the assessment period, PAL Robotics have refused to disseminate the information about the current quantity of units ordered by the Dubai Police.

There is an extended bridge to cross before the robot officers can equally cope with the human abilities of the manforce, like pursuing a criminal or making someone give up their weapon.

And the Dubai Police is certain, about never providing arms to their fleet of Robocops. However, there is still so much uncertainty about the future of the police force, along with their super speed Lamborghinis, and Veyrons.

May be the human officers should be concerned. What do you think?