POLICE
— ROBOTIC TECHNOLOGY
619. Hon Dr BRIAN WALKER to the minister representing the
Minister for Police:
As a strong advocate for new and
innovative technologies, I refer to the news section of the WA Police website
and specifically to an article published on 29 July 2022, ''Meet Spot,
the WA Police Bomb Response Unit's newest member,'' apparently a
highly agile, multi-purpose robotics platform.
(1) What did ''Spot''
cost WA Police to purchase, and given that his manufacturers are based in the
United States, is there capacity to affect maintenance and repairs here in
Australia?
(2) When did ''Spot''
sign on for active duty and has he or she been deployed in any active scenarios
since?
(3) Will WA
Police's newfound appreciation of exotic technology extend to other
innovative electronic inventions from the US, for example some of the new,
cutting-edge technologies from US companies that would allow us to test for
impairment rather than for the mere presence of THC in a driver's
system?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following information has been provided to me
by the Minister for Police. The Western Australia Police Force advise —
(1) In total,
inclusive of additional equipment, the robot cost approximately $A330 000.
Maintenance and repairs are aligned to the warranty and the Western Australia
Police Force will repair minor issues at the local level cognisant of the
warranty specifications.
(2) The robot was
received for operational deployment in July 2022. No deployment to active
operational scenarios has occurred. However, the operators are ready and able
to deploy as required.
(3) The WA Police
Force is investigating several technology opportunities including: enhancing
remote communications to facilitate more uniform access to core policing
systems statewide; the continued optimisation of the Police One Force mobile
phone capability to further enable access to quality data by officers in the
field; and the continued development of a data analytics capability to improve
investigative outcomes.