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‘It scared them off’, Kansas City shoppers report less crime thanks to security robot patrolling strip mall (www.kctv5.com)

submitted 1 month ago by FlashMobOfOne@beehaw.org to c/usnews@beehaw.org

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A sight previously thought to be science fiction is very real at a southeast Kansas City shopping center. Instead of a police officer, a security robot has been patrolling sidewalks and shoppers are taking notice.

Since Marshall the robot has been on the job, shoppers say the experiences have completely changed when they come to these stores. The robot can spend 23 hours a day monitoring the parking lot from all angles which gives people a new sense of protection and ease they don’t always have when out.

Marshall took over security at Brywood Centre in April. Before that, Karen White noticed a lot of trouble outside the shopping center.

“Sometimes it’d be concerning for your car like someone could take it or something,” White said.

Knowing now that Marshall is always watching, the risk of crime does not worry her or others as much.

“It made it very better, like you can’t be in the parking lot without seeing the robot,” White continued. “So, I think it scared them off.”

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[–] millie@beehaw.org 2 points 1 month ago

Honestly, if there were tight restrictions on how the footage is used and what cases it's allowed to be turned over for, these are probably less dangerous than actual armed human beings running around. Robots don't have a sense of egotism unless they're programmed to, and hopefully wouldn't be armed.

Knowing the kind of tech bros that seem to typically start companies like this, though? I could see it being an incredibly intrusive form of data mining. Seems like yet another case of technology that could be really helpful in the right hands, but a mess of enshittification in the hands of money-grubbing cap capitalists.