Science & Technology

Real-life 'RoboCop' could patrol the streets within 5 years

By T.K. Randall
February 14, 2026

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) The idea of robotic police officers patrolling the streets, identifying suspects and making arrests may not be far from becoming a reality - that is, at least, according to Prof Ivan Sun of the University of Delaware who predicts that this will happen within as little as five years.

Unlike the titular character of the 1980s classic RoboCop, however, these machines won't have a cyborg element, but they will be capable of operating autonomously.

By 2031, Prof Sun predicts that we will see robotic police officers on the streets capable of using facial recognition to identify suspects before chasing them down for a quick arrest.

"The sky is really the limit," he said.

"Take a robbery, for instance - they could really take control of the scene.""They could chase you for five miles and they won't get tired. At the same time, while they are chasing the suspect, they can scan the suspect's bio and characteristics."

"Their AI can detect from 200 meters away if the suspect has a weapon or not."

"A human officer would not be able to do that."

Of course, the very idea of being chased down and arrested by a robot would raise all manner of social and legal concerns and the presence of such machines on the streets would likely meet with significant pushback from members of the public.

Also, if robots can play the role of police officers, it is likely they could be soldiers, too.

Whether this is a future that anyone will actually welcome, however, remains to be seen.

Source: Mail Online

Tags: Robot, Police