Driving Dystopia: Miami Now Testing Autonomous Police Cars

The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office has partnered with Policing Lab to test America’s first autonomous patrol vehicle. Dubbed the “Police Unmanned Ground (PUG) Vehicle Patrol Partner,” the vehicle will be part of a year-long evaluation to see if it’s fit for service.

“Miami-Dade continues to lead in public safety innovation,” suggested Sheriff Cordero-Stutz. “The PUG allows us to explore how new technology can keep people safe while making the best use of our resources. Deputies remain at the heart of this mission, and the PUG is here to support them.”

The autonomous patrol vehicle is said to be capable of patrolling streets by itself and reporting on any crimes it sees using artificial intelligence and its exterior camera arrays. However, the plan is to have an officer in the front seat for the first stint of testing. Policing Lab likewise said the PUG would be able to interface with law enforcement databases, license plate readers, and crime analytics in real time.

But its biggest trick is being able to launch flying drones as needed. The drone can take overhead shots of a large area or be flown into places the patrol vehicle may not be able to reach. It even has thermal imaging, allowing it to see the body heat of anybody hiding in a darkened area.

While it officially debuted two weeks ago, coverage was limited to local outlets until recently. We only caught wind after a reader contacted your author over social media with an article from Axios.

“This program offers law enforcement officers a smart high-tech partner in the field,” Marjolijn Bruggeling, Executive Director of Policing Lab, stated in the original release. “The PUG increases situational awareness, automates repetitive tasks, and frees deputies to focus on the complex and human side of policing. It’s a practical step toward safer, more efficient public safety.”

From Policing Lab:

Designed as a force multiplier, the PUG combines advanced autonomy from Perrone Robotics with AI-driven analytics, real-time crime data, and a suite of sensors including 360-degree cameras, thermal imaging, license plate recognition, and drone launch capabilities. Its role: extend deputy resources, improve efficiency, and enhance community safety without additional cost to Miami-Dade taxpayers.

The term “force multiplier” originates from the military and has historically been attached to groups leveraging new technologies that can overwhelm their adversaries. With police having become increasingly militaristic over time, they’ve adopted a lot of the same language and tactics over the last several decades. The same goes for their equipment.

In the 1960s, it was customary to see local law enforcement not being much better armed than the average civilian going about their day. However, police-issued body armor started to become customary in the 1970s. America’s “War on Drugs” would accelerate the trend in the following decade, with governments initially issuing S.W.A.T. teams advanced weaponry to use on drug raids. By the 1990s, there were federal programs designed to transfer surplus military equipment to state and local law enforcement.

Things would continue to change as the “Global War on Terror” informed military tactics that would then funnel down to police training in the early 2000s. With local departments already being issued similar equipment, it was assumed they’d benefit from adopting a similar mindset and training. By then, most patrol officers were better equipped than someone from S.W.A.T. would have been a few decades earlier and things have only progressed since.

With the above in mind, one wonders how things will play out for the vehicle and roadside surveillance technologies currently being implemented by law enforcement. Many departments are now leveraging tech from Flock Security that effectively gives them access to over 40,000 traffic surveillance cameras dotted around the country with unprecedented search functions. The public has begun raising questions about jurisdiction and Fourth Amendment rights in response.

While it’s not clear exactly how the Policing Lab vehicle will be used at this point, the PUG can indeed mill about on its own. But it seems more likely that its technologies would be adapted for use on subsequent patrol vehicles with human officers. The reason for this is presumably due to just how frequently other autonomous test vehicles have been bullied by the public over the years. We’ve likewise seen limited utility from mobile policing robots being tested in select cities. They’re effectively just cameras on wheels with the ability to tattle on presumed offenders using their internet connection.

Sheriff Cordero-Stutz told the Miami Herald that the department could use the PUG as an unmanned crime deterrent in "hotspot areas," launching its drone during an active crime scene or to help inform residents about hurricane evacuation routes. But they won’t be allowed to participate in police chases for the next twelve months and will likewise be banned from highway patrols.

Policing Lab (which describes itself as a “non-profit”) seems to believe the data collection alone would be worth the effort. However, we’ve seen loads of tech companies saddling departments with expensive subscriptions for similar services and there’s little reason to assume the PUG would be any different. That assumes Miami-Dade decides to keep the vehicles, of course, and there’s always the chance that they won’t if public feedback turns out to be overwhelmingly negative.

Edward Prokop, a strategic liaison for the company, suggested that the vehicles would coast between $150,000 and $200,000 per unit — should they be routinely built for law enforcement agencies. But it doesn’t appear that fee accounts for any potential subscriptions tied to the patrol car.

[Images: Policing Lab]

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