With the constant struggle with patrolling the borders in such harsh environmental setting, the US Customs and Border Protection decided to tackle the border problem with new solution, it started testing the usage of robotic dogs.
These robots were selected because they are better at handling that area weather, preventing the border patrol agents from the long exposure to sun an heat. these dogs have the ability to wonder for a longer time achieving a 24hour watch over the border. The introduction of these robots brought different concerns by some of the officials and the public, where they might put the people who live close to the border at risk and violate their privacy.
It’s important to note that this is not the first time the US government uses robotic dogs, where they were used in 2019 by the Massachusetts police, and recently by Honolulu police to scan civilians for high temperatures to screen for COVID-19.
Robotic dogs are just like any robots or computers, they can be hacked. If that were to happen, they can be used as a tool that can assist the groups who are smuggling or sneaking into the country illegally. However, we also can’t deny the benefits they provide and the extra security we can accomplish with them.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/19/us/robot-dogs-us-mexico-border-patrol-cec/index.html
As much as there are the obvious benefits to these robotic dogs as you listed, such as being able to withstand weather conditions that normally an officer would struggle to, it mostly is a bad idea from how I see it. There is a lot of potential for harm and can turn south pretty fast. With hacking being a large issue first and foremost, such an important job should not be taken over by a “hackable device”, this might only make matters worse and create a more unsafe situation. Last year, the NYPD tested DigiDog in unsafe situations. A New York Times article about DigiDog stated, “Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union, said empowering a robot to do police work could have implications for bias, mobile surveillance, hacking and privacy. There is also concern that the robot could be paired with other technology and be weaponized.”. This a very good point, as obviously and profoundly it can benefit us, it can profoundly harm us if it is under the wrong hands.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/nyregion/nypd-robot-dog.html
On paper, robotic dogs sound like a great idea when it comes to border protection and control. However, it is important to weigh all the benefits along with the drawbacks. I personally don’t see this being the best idea. The article I looked over, although opinion based, raised a lot of great questions and potential concerns with this new technology. We’ve already seen higher death rates as security surveillance systems become more technologically advanced at the border. This high-tech security doesn’t stop migration, but rather forces individuals to find more complicated routes to reaching the border, leading to more deaths. This is an issue that cannot be solved with technology. We need to find a more efficient way to spend that money and work towards a better border policy.
Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/22/robotic-dogs-arizona-border-will-not-solve-migrant-crisis/
Using border patrol robotic dogs seems like an amazing idea at first, but once I thought deeper into it, I had some doubts. When first analyzing this I thought this was a great idea due to the idea that these dogs could be working 24/7. This would save so much money in staffing security and even better the dogs can work through all types of weather. When thinking about this idea it does sound very good and seems like it benefits the U.S in all ways possible with 0 downsides.
When this new innovative idea began to sit with me, I started to realize that this idea is not all good. This idea of using robotic dogs for surveillance could be a huge violation of data privacy. This would be a data privacy issue because of the way these dogs surveil. If they have a 24/7 camera on the dogs, they could be filming people who live near the border who do not want to be filmed. This could be brought up in court for the unlawful surveillance of someone. Also, how do the dog tell the difference between a U.S citizens and a Mexican citizen. There seems like a huge risk for a mess up.
https://news.yahoo.com/creepy-robot-dogs-soon-intensify-140031339.html
I believe that the United States putting its money towards robotic dogs guarding the border is very unnecessary. We have already allocated so much money and resources towards the border in order to diminish the number of illegal immigrants entering the US. Since the 1990’s, heightened security by the border has caused the immigrants to move towards the desert, which has caused an increase in the number of immigrants’ deaths.This is not what the United States should be trying to do, as increasing the security will only cause more death, which in return, causes more outrage among people. The border of Mexico and Arizona oftentimes reaches 120 degrees in the summer time, and with little water to be found, the immigrants face hard times. There is a saying by the “Coyotes”, people who help migrants get into America that states, “If you can see the towers, the towers can see you.” Simply put, you do not want to be in sight of the towers, so the migrants are forced into the Arizona border region, where more and more human remains are being found.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/22/robotic-dogs-arizona-border-will-not-solve-migrant-crisis/
By using robotic dogs, I feel that the U.S. is certainly taking advantage of their newest technological advances. Due to the factor of sometimes unbearable weather at our southern border, I believe that in theory, this is a great idea. However, with all technology comes glitches. Despite the fact that the U.S. most likely went through extensive testing on these robotic dogs, they could still glitch. If a glitch occurs during a moment of threat or illegal activity, our borders would be left without at least one line of defense or warning. This could definitely be an issue if it were to happen if the U.S. Border Patrol depends on these robotic dogs to a certain extent.
While there are some concerns about glitches or malfunctions with the technology, I think the use of these dogs is beneficial. Their ability to capture evidence of criminal activity or illegal trespassing can help border patrol to identify these people.
I think that there are benefits of using robotic dogs to defend the border and as border protection, but I also think think that are some downfalls. The robotic dogs do have features that humans do not have so they may be better for some things, but not others. The robotic dogs can record surveillance and capture evidence. I think that they can be useful at filling in the gaps for border patrol and assisting border patrol, however they cannot make arrests and do not have weapons and do not have the same intuition as a human. Some people are arguing that the use of robotic dogs on the border are attributing to an increase rate in migrant deaths. People that are trying to cross over try to stay clear of the robotic dogs, but then end up in conditions that they cannot survive in. Many people feel that the robotic dogs will not solve anything and that they are a menace to border communities privacy. The use of robotic dogs at the border could eventually lead to the use of robotic dogs in our communities used by police forces. This is something that I feel many people would not be comfortable with because these robotic dogs serve as surveillance.
source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/22/robotic-dogs-arizona-border-will-not-solve-migrant-crisis/