--- title: Knightscope Autonomous Robot May Help Police Patrol Neighborhoods description: It looks like a cross between R2D2 and a Dalek, but it's really a new big idea in policing: Robotics in service of public safety. canonical: https://time.com/65021/robot-cop/ author: Lev Grossman article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-16T15:36:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:52:35.262Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Knightscope Police Bot Is Watching, Always Watching og:description: Seen by its makers "more R2D2 than RoboCop," the autonomous policing robot Knightscope K5 promises to patrol geo-fenced beats in hopes of reducing crime by 50 percent. og:url: https://time.com/65021/robot-cop/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25ba125b02da2d06/69868aef1eebf735423706df/k5-blur-kids_full.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1700 og:image:height: 956 og:image:alt: Knightscope og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Knightscope Police Bot Is Watching, Always Watching twitter:description: Seen by its makers "more R2D2 than RoboCop," the autonomous policing robot Knightscope K5 promises to patrol geo-fenced beats in hopes of reducing crime by 50 percent. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25ba125b02da2d06/69868aef1eebf735423706df/k5-blur-kids_full.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The New Cop on the Beat May Be a Bot > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=da1745d0-56fd-4479-a8f8-a864c4de9403&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Meet the Crime-Fighting R2-D2 [Watch (HLS stream): Meet the Crime-Fighting R2-D2](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6kFxOrBu.m3u8) (4:26)  _Published 2014-04-16. Knightscope K5 promises enhanced policing capabilities, courts controversy_ by [Lev Grossman](https://time.com/author/lev-grossman/) ## Lev Grossman Apr 16, 2014 3:36 PM UTC by [Lev Grossman](https://time.com/author/lev-grossman/) ## Lev Grossman Apr 16, 2014 3:36 PM UTC Have we as a species learned nothing from _Robocop_? A Silicon Valley company called [Knightscope](http://knightscope.com) is currently testing a prototype robot designed to detect and monitor criminal activity, much the way a police officer or a security guard would. The Knightscope K5 is a five-foot-tall autonomous robot (one presumes that its resemblance to a [Dalek](http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/dalek/) is merely coincidental) that roams around your neighborhood, observing and gathering data and trying to predict where and when criminal activity will occur. It carries no weaponry, but it has a pretty complete sensor package that includes thermal imaging, license plate reading and facial recognition. This takes public surveillance a step beyond stationary cameras, and the challenges to personal privacy are clear. The K5 could do a whole lot of good by deterring crime, especially in neighborhoods that lack the resources to field an adequate police presence. But where do you draw the line? ## Transcript We're more R2D2 than we are Robo Cop. [ MUSIC ] What if we can make the United States of America the safest country in the world? [ MUSIC ] My goal, is to reduce crime by at least 50 %. [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] It's everything that Hollywood has ever projected to be happening in the year 2050, except we're not that patient. It's 2014, and we're gonna do it this year. [ SOUND ] [ MUSIC ] This is the Knightscope K5. It's an autonomous data machine. The intent is to predict and prevent crime. [ MUSIC ] How we go about doing that, is with a completely autonomous robot. The robot will actually patrol around within a geo- fenced area. It moves autonomously, it's completely random, so there's no predictability about it. And then sensor wise, you're looking at four cameras for 360 degree video, so we're capturing high definition. Color video. [ MUSIC ] We also have infrared capability and thermal imaging capability as well. Then over on the side we have a license plate recognition system. So the robot, as it's driving around, it can capture up to 300 license plates per minute, run those against either a white, a white list or a black list or even the national local criminal databases, to determine if there's anybody in the area who shouldn't be. And then inside we also have a, weapons of mass destruction sensing cababilities. [ MUSIC ] You know, it's a, crazy combination of everything that's great about Silicon Valley. It's robotic, it's big data, it's predictive analytics, it's sensors, it's autonomous technology. And, being able to combine that do something for the greater good of society is gonna help a lot, especially as this planet moves from seven billion people to nine billion people. I can tell you that the law enforcement apparatus, that exists worldwide, is just not gonna scale. And, what Knightscope's redefining, or defining as Security 3. 0 is humans, robotics, and actual real intelligence. [ SOUND ]. I was a police officer, and, as a police officer it became obvious to me that we're limited in our abilities, and technology is a way to help be a force multiplier in law enforcement and stopping crime. [ NOISE ] I can't even begin to understand what the parents are going through. But I wish 'em lots of prayers, and, our thoughts. What we wanted to do after, the Sandy Hook shooting, and then the Boston bombing. Is we wanted to create something, that could help law enforcement do their job, be socially acceptable in the community, and something that would help us to crowdsource security. But really, we needed something that was going to be technology- based and intelligent. [ MUSIC ] And it's about time we leverage all these technologies and, and do something very innovative. And, and of course, it's a little [ UNKNOWN ] controversial, right? There have been a few, you know, uninformed analysts that say, you know, this is the type of technology. This is the type of surveillance technology that puts people on edge. You know, when you go to an ATM machine, what's your expectation of privacy? You're in public, right? That is no different than the security guard, standing there, you know, wanting to make sure you're okay. I think the probably the closest comparator is when, closed circuit television came into play. And then people got really on edge about oh, well, all these cameras are popping up everywhere, and now there's, we can't really go anywhere without there being cameras. It's just a matter of how that technology is being deployed. This is something that's, much more visible, and something people can actually interact with, and have a relationship with. We're doing something that actually matters. It means something to society. And we've got people who are, dying to get these products in, into their campus and their operations. Investors look at it and, and, they start going, oh wow, wait a minute. Okay, I see how this is gonna impact people. I see how it's gonna impact me. This actually makes a difference. It's not just the next gain. [ MUSIC ] And so, we wanna show, that we can literally cut crime by 50 % in a geo- fence area. 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