And You Thought You Saw The Last of The Terminator. He's Back - As A SWAT-Bot!

So, I've been watching Westworld and it seems like killer robots are becoming a thing again. There are some really cool things with the bot featured in this slick ad:

• It's seemingly quiet. For obvious reasons.
• They went the fashionable "combat black" look. It's mandatory for anything being called "covert" these days. (snark)
• It has loads of cameras. One of the primary purposes of the bot is to give human operators tactical situational awareness. The field of view seems to be okay and has what appears to be some PTZ stuff going on, though the cameras appear to be very stationary. If it relies on the vehicle to move the camera, then I'm curious whether that compromises noise discipline.
• It comes with a Glock. Yeah. It's "G'd up from da floor up". My bad - that's street vernacular for "It has a working gun that can kill people". That said, I'm curious if the vehicle has a stabilizer to compensate for recoil. Also, where does the "brass" go? Surely, it's not optimal to have it eject in a way that it could lodge between the gun and the bot chassis.

My overall complaints about the bot:

• It looks great in a video which means it will perform like crap once it gets deployed.
• I need to see more Army-proofing. Ahem! How long before crazy G.I.s break it on its first run? Trust me - you need to be asking this question.
• Humans have been doing a bang-up job of clearing rooms thus far without bots. Not sure how this helps in real world tactical environments. Yeah, shooters may not have to get too close to make the hard shots but....What happens when your suspect sees this thing and decides you're trying to make entry and kills hostages preemptively before you do?
• Finally, I worry about the trial and error part of figuring out its limitations in the real world. An EOD bot is easy to square away because testing and training go hand-in-hand especially in a semi-controlled environment. This bot's armament would need to be tested along with its operators under conditions that mirror the real world both in risk and realism. In other words, let's see it clear a "trap house" with a barricaded homicidal subject armed with an AK-47 and has kids as potential hostages. We tend to be very "meh" about collateral damage (civilian deaths) in combat zones during drone strikes - I have a feeling we'd feel differently about a bot who killed a hostage due to operator error or mechanical failure. Thankfully, it's under human-control. Imagine what it can do if given analytics.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! RNC After Action Reports!!

2016 was a huge year in security especially in light of our recent presidential elections. The election is always a big security event but unlike previous elections, the last few years have seen the country becoming seemingly more divided and somewhat consumed with protest activities. Additionally, cities that hosted political conventions had to have significant mitigation measures in place. A piece of public records information I'm always very curious about are the after-action reports of cities who have to host these events.

A fellow MuckRock user, Melissa Hill requested the after action reports from from several law enforcement agencies. She's gotten quite a few and I suspect others are forthcoming. I'll post more as they become available and I sift through the chaff.

Ohio Highway Patrol

Wisconsin State Patrol



Florida Highway Patrol After Action Report


City of Cleveland's Information Releases to the Public and Media

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yvf9u065b0xl9x5/AADTRM_rG7IftykXfOYdT7zHa?dl=0

NOTE: I decided to add this, even though it's not an AAR. Still worth a look to get a scope of the various organizations which supported the security mission at the convention.

DoD-NORTHCOM Defense Support of Civil Authorities Republican National Convention 2016 Presentation

2016 - The year of the creepy dudes in clown costumes

Other than the election that was "interesting", 2016 had some very memorable moments. One of those "moments" was the "clown scare". For a few months, the entire country seemed to be besieged by reports of creepy dudes in clown costumes. If you're not familiar with American customs, I'd like to be the first to inform you that many Americans are terrified of clowns. Some of these sightings were of clowns in the woods who were trying to entice children to go into the woods with them. Yeah. I told you - creepy. As time wore on, it became apparent to the American people many of the sightings were the result of false reports, hoaxes, and the rare creepy dude in a clown costume. Thanks to the awesomeness of MuckRock we have a real live police report of such an incident. Have a look - if you dare!