KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A sight previously thought to be science fiction is very real at a southeast Kansas City shopping center. Instead of a police officer, a security robot has been patrolling sidewalks and shoppers are taking notice.

Since Marshall the robot has been on the job, shoppers say the experiences have completely changed when they come to these stores. The robot can spend 23 hours a day monitoring the parking lot from all angles which gives people a new sense of protection and ease they don’t always have when out.

Marshall took over security at Brywood Centre in April. Before that, Karen White noticed a lot of trouble outside the shopping center.

“Sometimes it’d be concerning for your car like someone could take it or something,” White said.

Knowing now that Marshall is always watching, the risk of crime does not worry her or others as much.

“It made it very better, like you can’t be in the parking lot without seeing the robot,” White continued. “So, I think it scared them off.”

    • Pennomi@lemmy.world
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      15 days ago

      Ironically security theater can have a a placebo effect on crime rates as well. It turns out that the likelihood that someone commits a crime is strongly correlated to the chance they believe they will get caught, not the actual chance of getting caught. That’s why fake security cameras are so effective.

      • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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        15 days ago

        This only applies to rational actors. The problem is most criminals are not rational nor thinking of consequences.

        Case in point, criminals know convenience stores have cameras but still openly rob and steal from them.

        • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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          15 days ago

          Bullocks. You could make the crime for stealing death and execute everyone who does. There would still be stealing.

          Simply put most criminals don’t think about consequences.

    • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.worldOP
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      15 days ago

      Realistically, with the robot having been around now almost six months, I’m more willing to consider that the locals have noticed a difference in their experience going shopping. That’s more than enough time to notice the kind of changes the locals appear to have experienced since they stopped relying on the police.

  • Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works
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    15 days ago

    “He has a license plate reader, he has facial recognition, he can read IP addresses from your cell phone or watch,” Amanda Bellemere, owner of Brywood Shopping Centre, explained. “He knows who you are basically.”

      • potatopotato@sh.itjust.works
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        15 days ago

        They mean the Bluetooth MAC address. It’ll capture your phone’s and can tell who the manufacturer is but the rest of the address is randomized. That said, lots of watches/earbuds/assorted smart Bluetooth things aren’t randomized because manufacturers are lazy.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.worldOP
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    15 days ago

    TBH, I trust a security robot way, way more than I trust the KCPD at this point.

    Our police are state-controlled and don’t seem to give a damn about locals, and they’ve shown themselves to be completely inept to stem the stream of burglaries and theft that’s occurred in the city over the past year. My own car got ripped off less than a year ago, forcing me to have to replace a window, but that’s small potatoes compared to what many others are experiencing.

  • hakunawazo@lemmy.world
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    14 days ago

    They’ve seen the YouTube videos of Robocop and didn’t want to get shot in their dicks.

  • aeronmelon@lemmy.world
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    15 days ago

    The headline makes it sound like people are scared to report crimes because they don’t want to talk to RoboMallCop.

    • Ste41th@lemmy.ml
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      15 days ago

      “Please wait for a human agent to speak with you”

      Hold music plays

      “You are number 2 in the queue”

      Hold music continues playing

      “To report an active crime call the police”

      ……

  • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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    15 days ago

    The robot can spend 23 hours a day monitoring the parking lot from all angles

    Do they get a mandated one-hour break or something?

    • seaQueue@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      I’m waiting for someone to knock it over with their car and shoot it, that’s the American way after all