Police Police are acquiring remote-controlled reconnaissance robots from an Israeli company

Finland police are acquiring new types of intelligence robots from the Israeli company General Robotics.

Future remote-controlled robots travel along the ground, floors or other surfaces and transmit real-time image and sound from the scene.

The police government does not comment precisely on the situations in which reconnaissance robots are to be used.

It is clear that remote-controlled devices can be used to monitor the target, for example in siege situations or other places that may be dangerous to the police.

It is also possible to use robots in various surveillance situations, where the police try to monitor the activities of a criminal suspect, for example, without his or her knowledge.

Police Board and the Israeli company have already entered into an acquisition agreement. According to the contract, the equipment will cost a total of approximately EUR 380000.

Police were originally scheduled to make the first devices available last year, but the timetable has been slightly delayed from preliminary plans.

The police government has previously estimated that a maximum of a few dozen devices would be available in the next few years.

“The intention is for the first devices to go into operational use this year. The equipment will probably be available for all police departments, ”says the Inspector General of Police of the National Board of Police Vesa Pihajoki.

Police has not told the public what the future reconnaissance robot will look like and what features it will contain.

The Israeli company’s website features a remote-controlled reconnaissance robot that travels through a kind of crawler. It can also climb stairs independently. The device is 49 cents long, 38 cents wide and 14 cents high.

HS does not know whether the device presented on the website is the same reconnaissance robot that will be used by the police.

The device presented on the company’s website can also be equipped with a remote-controlled firearm and pepper spray, but the Finnish police’s future equipment will not have any use of force, says Chief Inspector Pihajoki.

“It’s for intelligence use only,” he says.

Intelligence robots are somewhat reminiscent of drones, or remote-controlled airplanes, with the difference that reconnaissance robots travel on the ground and drones in the sky.

Police began using drones on individual devices in the middle of the last decade. Since then, the number of devices and the number of operating hours have increased significantly.

Police use remotely piloted aircraft in a wide variety of missions. Among other things, they describe crime scenes for pre-trial investigation, search for missing or fleeing police officers, and monitor the progress of large-scale mass incidents.

In addition, drones can be used to monitor crime suspects, although this has been rare, according to the Police Board.

Police drones are equipped with at least thermal cameras, spotlights and command speakers.