By Erin Richards
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The machine can climb stairs, open doors, defuse bombs and deploy its water cannon like a 12-gauge shotgun.
It can also, as evidenced by events that unfolded Friday on the shoulder of westbound I-94 near 19th St., approach two potentially dangerous suspects holed up in an SUV, transmit instructions from a hostage negotiator sitting safely in a nearby truck, and punch out the rear window of the suspects’ stolen car.
The hole left by the Remotec Andros F6A, affectionately known as “Ace” by the Milwaukee County Sheriff ‘s Office bomb squad, allowed a SWAT officer to thrust a tear gas canister inside and smoke out the two suspects, effectively ending the sixhour standoff that had halted traffic for hours on I-94. The events turned the spotlight on the 485-pound, 4-foot-tall Ace, which has spent the last six years quietly investigating suspicious packages and providing surveillance for law enforcement around southeastern Wisconsin.
Terminator and R2-D2 jokes aside, similar devices have become indispensable to bomb squad units across the country - federal Homeland Security grants have supported the purchases - and point to an increasing reliance on technology in modern law enforcement.
“After 9-11, we’ve put a lot of emphasis on the safety of our officers and new technologies,” said Deputy Gary Nell, commander of the Milwaukee County Sheriff ‘s Office bomb squad. “This keeps all the deputies and the public safe.” The Andros F6A by manufacturer Northrop Grumman is operated by remote control, costs about $200,000 and has tracks and wheels to get around uneven terrain. It also has four cameras to zip images back to a command center inside the bomb squad truck, and speakers to transmit instructions from a hostage negotiator to suspects or others on the scene.
On Friday, about five people in the truck were huddled around the screens as Ace approached the stolen SUV, Nell said. The man and woman in the SUV seemed surprised to be communicating with a robot, he added. Ace worked so well that it probably should have been brought in sooner, Nell said, but it was the first time the machine had been used for negotiation-type purposes.
“It’s easy to look back with 20-20 vision,” he said. “I think the feeling was to try to use the SWAT team equipment first and see how that worked before deciding to bring in the robot.”.
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