Real-life RoboCop ...the beat bobby of the future

IT may look unlikely to give a hardened criminal second thoughts, but this police robot bristles with crime-fighting technology.

Although it’s less sophisticated than its namesake in the 1987 movie RoboCop, it has joined Dubai police to patrol the city, which aims to replace 25 per cent of its officers with machines by 2030.

It has camera software to check suspects’ faces with a police database, and can read car licence plates, while its video feed helps police identify risks such as unattended bags.

People can talk to it or use a touch screen in its chest to report a crime.

Brigadier Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi, of Dubai police, said people used to smart technology embraced the idea, adding: ‘A lot have seen the RoboCop movie and said, “You guys, you have done it!”.’