Robocop car to target offenders ‘all by itself’

Robotic driverless police vehicles could be used to chase down dangerous drivers on the roads and issue tickets to speeding motorists via the internet within three years, a new patent application reveals. Automotive giant Ford, which makes cars and vans for the service, has submitted detailed plans to revolutionise the future of policing. The proposals would mean “human police officers can perform tasks that cannot be automated” as they would not need to be in the vehicle, according to the car manufacturer. The patent application, filed this month and intended for the early 2020s, explains how the vehicle’s computer brain would use deep neural networks – a kind of artificial intelligence – to locate a parking spot on its own “so as to be inconspicuous” and catch those breaking the law. The car would be fitted with cameras and sensors that would allow it to record number plates of motoring offenders and could receive tip-offs from surveillance cameras about approaching vehicles of interest. The car’s AI could decide whether to issue a warning or a fine and send notices directly to the computer of the offending vehicle, where they would be displayed on the dashboard. Copies would be sent to the police database. The news comes as one in five jobs in British conurbations are likely to be displaced by 2030 because of automation and globalisation, a new report by think-tank Centre For Cities predicts.