Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Wants To Add Robots To Arsenal

A pair of rugged high-tech, remote-controlled robots could help save first responders during dangerous and high-risk situations, Laramie County Sheriff’s Brian Kozak said. He’ll find out Tuesday if the county commission will approve more than $37,000 to buy them.

Kozak told Cowboy State Daily the new robots are about the size of a toy RC car and will replace older out-of-date models being used by the sheriff’s office. The new upgraded robots will have multiple cameras on them and have the ability to climb stairs, which the old models could not.

Their rugged design with oversized wheels are designed to be tossed into situations and take falls, tumbles and blows, earning them the nickname “throwbots."

Officers will be able to communicate to others through the throwbots, Kozak said, allowing them to potentially talk to a person in crisis without distressing them with the presence of a police officer.

For example, he said the robots can be used to scan a potentially dangerous area for hazards before using human officers to execute a search warrant.

“We don’t want to be the ones forcing someone to use deadly force on ourselves or on a deputy,” Kozak said. “We want to keep the deputies back at a distance so we can have the robot go in and actually make contact with that person.

"It’s just a safer way of doing it so the person doesn’t feel threatened by the deputy.”

The robots will also be used in tandem with a new set of drones, further allowing officers to remove themselves from harm’s way, Kozak said.

“If we have a home that’s got a lot of clutter items on the floor and the throwbot can’t get around them, we can actually send one of the drones into the home and look around,” he said. “Again, just a safety feature before deputies actually enter.”

Drones and robots, he said, are always used constitutionally, meaning they are only deployed after officers have obtained the necessary search or arrest warrant. 

Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Aaron Veldheer added the throwbots are ultimately intended to save the lives of officers.

“If they kill a robot, that’s cool, we’ll be fine, we can get another one,” he said. “That way we send our guys home to their families at the end of the shift and the person we’re dealing can get the help they need.”

Veldheer said the staff at the sheriff’s office is highly tech savvy and is excited to work with advanced technology more regularly. He predicted robots may soon become more prevalent in Wyoming policing in the future.

“The future is wide open, we’ve all seen the science fiction movies,” he said. “Who knows what it’s going to be? In a few years I can foresee drones getting small enough that they’re going to be mounted on patrol vehicles and when somebody gets out of the car, they’re going to have a drone with them to act as cover and scene security with AI.”

Bid For Bots

The Laramie County Board of Commissioners will consider approval of the robots during the board’s regular meeting Tuesday.

Manufacturer Axon describes its Sky-Hero Sigyn Ground Robot as a “rugged, throwable device for hazardous indoor operations,” according to its website.

The small four-wheeled unit has two cameras mounted on its front and rear to “enhance the safety and success of tactical missions.”

“The Sky-Hero by Axon Sigyn Mkl is a rugged, lightweight and throwable small uncrewed ground vehicle (sUGV) purpose-built to collect and transmit real-time audio/video intelligence,” the company says. “Ideal for short-range reconnaissance missions in obstacle-rich environments and GPS and cellular-denied areas.”

The combined cost for both units, according to county agreement documents, is $37,082.

The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office last spring opened a request for bids for a “tactical throwbot.” County officials wrote in the bid document that they planned to use the robots to protect law enforcement officials when working in dangerous situations.

Axon says it has previously supplied similar robots to the city of Baltimore, Maryland, the Cleveland Police Department and the U.S. Department of Justice’s District of Puerto Rico headquarters.

Also included in the bid response document were scenarios in which the robots could be deployed. These include searching under vehicles for hidden threats and probing a subway station for a suspicious person. 

National Context

The use of robots in policing has been debated since a 2016 incident in which officers in Texas used a robot to kill a sniper who killed five people and injured nine others.

Dallas, Texas, police deployed an explosive robot to kill the shooter after a conversation with him devolved into a firefight. Then-Police Chief Davd Brown said during a press conference officers saw “no other option” but to deploy the robot. 

Axon does not list delivery of explosive payloads as a function of its Sky-Hero Sigyn Mkl.

Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.