The use of police robots for SWAT missions have started being explored recently. For agencies looking to invest in this, I suggest they agencies acquire multiple observation venues, giving multiple observers the ability to simultaneously obtain video and/or pictures from the robotics platform. This increases situational awareness for intelligence and decision-making purposes.
Examples of observation venues include:
-
A “tactical viewfinder” which might be a small, portable, hand-held viewfinder that would allow viewing in bright light without glare or reflection, and viewing in low light without the light from a monitor reflecting off the viewer’s face;
A “command console” that would provide a large viewing screen at a command post; and
- An “operator’s monitor” that provides the operator of the robotic platform a view of both the platform and the view to be displayed on other monitors.