Singapore Tries Community Behavior Discipline Enforcement Robot

A robot that enforces public behavior discipline is being piloted in Singapore. (photo: straitstimes)

JAKARTA - Singapore has begun testing robots to patrol public areas and discourage bad social behavior in its latest effort to further add to its portfolio of robust surveillance tools.

Ranked as one of the safest countries in the world, Singapore has tested two autonomous robots to detect bad behavior. For example, behavior that violates COVID-19 safety measures, smoking in restricted areas, and improper parking of bicycles. This was confirmed by Singapore's Home Team Science and Technology Agency in a statement on Sunday, September 5.

It said the two patrol robots, named Xavier, were equipped with cameras that could detect bad social behavior and trigger real-time alerts to the command and control center. The trial took place in a high pedestrian traffic area in central Singapore.

The agency said that during the three-week trial, the robot will be used for surveillance and display messages to educate the public about proper behavior. A spokesman from the agency said Monday that the robots will not be used for law enforcement during the trial.

"The deployment of Xavier will support the work of public officers as it will reduce the manpower required for foot patrols and increase the efficiency of operations", the agency said.

Singapore's Home Minister, K Shanmugam, said in August that the city-state aims to have more than 200,000 police cameras by 2030, more than double the number of cameras currently deployed across the island nation in Southeast Asia.