The NYPD has unveiled a new security robot to patrol the subway system — starting with a pilot program in Times Square.
The robot, K-5, stands almost 5 feet tall, and weighs nearly 400 pounds. It’s outfitted with four cameras to capture video footage. The bot, which is intended to be accompanied by a human officer, will patrol the 42nd Street Times Square subway station from midnight to 6 am, officials said.
Mayor Eric Adams said K-5 will record video in the event police need to review evidence of a crime — but police said that it will not employ facial recognition software. However, privacy advocates say they’re not convinced.
“We’re also highly concerned with how the footage could be fed into NYPD’s existing facial recognition systems,” said William Owen, communications director for the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) “We do not trust that they will not use the footage captured by the Times Square robot.”
Reporting: Naoufal Enhari
Videography and editing: Shanae Harte
