NYPD reboots cyborg police dog after backlash and, again, civil rights advocates warn against high-tech hound

NEW YORK – Digidog, the NYPD robot pooch, is back and department leaders promise it’s not the dystopian surveillance nightmare it was made out to be the first time New Yorkers got a look at it.

Two years after the $74,000 robot canine program landed the NYPD in the doghouse with civil rights advocates, Digidog, also known as Spot, got a new leash on life Tuesday as the city announced it was bringing it back.

Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell noted the NYPD’s long history with technology – the first police force to put in place a 911 call system and among the first to use fingerprints and mugshots – said New Yorkers will be kept abreast of how the cyber mutt and two other tech tools that are part of pilot programs will be used.

“We want the public to know that the use of these technologies will be transparent, consistent and always done in collaboration with the people that we serve,” Sewell said.

Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, was more critical, noting that the previous administration let objections to Digidog win the day.

“That is not how I operate,” he said. “I operate on whatever is best for the city. Digidog is out of the pound.

“Digidog is now part of the tool kit we are using.”

NYPD critics were not amused.

The Legal Aid Society said there hasn’t been any meaningful dialogue with communities “about whether this is how we want to live.”

“The Legal Aid Society urges the City Council to hold an immediate oversight hearing to further investigate the use of these technologies and to afford all New Yorkers the chance to have their voices heard.”

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams questioned spending money on robots at a time when social service agencies are having their budgets cut.

The Speaker also said the council will investigate whether the NYPD has run afoul of the restrictions in place following the 2020 enactment of the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act.