Chicago Gets Crime-Fighting Robots

$135,000 Robots Financed By Homeland Security Funds
CBS 2
Nov. 19, 2006

(CBS) CHICAGO - Chicago now has its own RoboCops just like in the movies. City officials are touting the arrival of three new robots the city will use to diffuse bombs.

As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, two of the three new crime fighters are joining the Chicago Police Department. They're state-of-the-art robots able to locate and disarm explosives with a raft of new features.

"What we see is the Chicago police and fire departments always leading in technology," said Mayor Richard Daley.

The 350-pound, remote-controlled machine has a movable arm that looks like the inner workings of a watch with tires.

These new RoboCops are equipped with X-ray capacity to peer into suspicious packages, and night vision cameras that zoom, pan and tilt and send video images to the control screen a safe distance away. There's a water cannon to drench threatening items. And the robot arms can pick up and move backpacks, suitcases and packages.

"You can take those wheels off so that you can get down a train aisle or a bus aisle or an airplane aisle," said Sgt. Mike Gerhardstein with the Chicago Bomb Squad.

The robots can also climb stairs. The robot, nicknamed "Frank" after the founder of the bomb squad, finally made it up and down after a brief delay.

Police say they won't limit their use to bomb threats.

"If a hostage taker is inside a building and we want to bring them a mobile phone to use in order to communicate, rather than put a police officer in harm's way, we can have the robot deliver it," said police Supt. Phil Cline.

The bomb squad will use two of the new robots, a third will be assigned to O'Hare Airport. In January, the fire department will get one to be used during hazardous materials incidents.

The price tag is $135,000 a piece, paid for with homeland security funds. The mayor says if a bomb does go off, he'd rather lose a robot than police officers or civilians.

CBS 2's Mike Parker contributed to this report.