Featured NewsTrending NewsEvolving TechSchools Will Need to Wait for Taser Drone Sentinels
Passions and controversaries surrounding school shootings, gun control, and police response have paused development of a proposed non-lethal "taser drone" at the Axon company after nine members of its ethics board resigned.
In the wake of the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, Axon CEO Rick Smith had stated he planned to explore building a taser-equipped drone as a defense option for active-shooter scenarios. The statement alone was enough to prompt the ethics board exodus.
“I want to be explicit," said Smith regarding the turmoil at Axon. "I announced a potential delivery date a few years out as an expression of what could be possible. It is not an actual launch timeline—especially as we are pausing that program. A remotely operated non-lethal Taser-enabled drone in schools is an idea, not a product, and it’s a long way off. We have a lot of work and exploring to see if this technology is even viable, and to understand if the public concerns can be adequately addressed before moving forward. It is unfortunate that some members of Axon’s ethics advisory panel have chosen to withdraw from directly engaging on these issues before we heard or had a chance to address their technical questions. We respect their choice and will continue to seek diverse perspectives to challenge our thinking and help guide other technology options that we should be considering.”
The proposed aerial weapon was mocked up as a yellow-colored drone (see photo at top) equipped with cameras and tasers, and reportedly designed to incapacitate an armed threat in less than 60 seconds (once the shooter is found and identified).
Originally, the Axon technology was to be delivered solely to police forces—a move that still caused consernation amongst ethics-board members. However, after the shootings at the Uvalde elementary school—which prompted Smith to publicly announce he was “catastrophically disappointed” in police for their slow response to the situation—Axon reportedly greenlighted development of the taser drone for deployment in schools and released its plans to the media.
The response from the board was heated: “Reasonable minds can differ on the merits of police-controlled Taser-equipped drones – our own board disagreed internally – but we unanimously are concerned with the process Axon has employed regarding this idea of drones in school classrooms.”
While many on the board were said to believe Axon's announcement was “trading on the tragedy of the Uvalde and Buffalo shooting,” Smith countered that he truly believed the taser drone could evolve into a working solution to save lives.
Apparently, it all came down to the timing of the product announcement, as the board felt the company hadn't adequately addressed its concerns before telling the world about the proposed drone.
“What’s the emergency?" asked board member Barry Friedman—a New York University law professor. "School shootings are a crisis. I agree. But Axon, on its own best timeline, isn’t going to come up with anything for a couple of years. Why was it necessary to jump ahead like this? What suggested as a necessary public dialogue was really just jumping over the head of the board.”
For his part, Smith said it was “unfortunate that some members of Axon’s ethics advisory panel have chosen to withdraw from directly engaging on these issues before we heard or had a chance to address their technical questions. We respect their choice and will continue to seek diverse perspectives to challenge our thinking and help guide other technology options."
