In July, a sniper opened fire during a march against police shootings in Dallas, killing five police officers and wounding many others. After a 45-minute gun battle and hours of negotiation with the sniper, Dallas Police Chief David Brown gave an order to his SWAT team to come up with a plan to end the mayhem before more police officers were killed. That led to the decision to send in a robot, armed with explosives, to kill the sniper.

In the latest episode of the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer 2 Lawyer, we look at the use of robots by law enforcement. What are the legal, policy and ethical questions surrounding their use? Our guests for this program are:

  • Edward Obayashi, deputy sheriff and legal advisor for the Plumas County, Calif., sheriff’s office and an attorney with a practice providing legal advice to California law enforcement agencies.
  • Peter Asaro, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of graduate programs for the School of Media Studies at the New School for Public Engagement in New York City and co-founder of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control.

Listen to the show above or at the Legal Talk Network. Never miss an episode by subscribing via the iTunes library or our RSS feed.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.