We’ve all seen the movies about the bomb tech walking down the street in the big green suit. The tense music rises in the background, and you see the tech sweating as they cut the red wire, no, the yellow! The clock ticks down to zero and you wait until the third act to find out what happened.
We moved beyond sending humans into harm’s way years ago with the advent of large, heavy, slow robots that were built to operate on flat terrain. These clunky robots will continue to have a place in our toolbox, but at SPD we are now fielding a new type of robot – one that is far nimbler and can keep you, and our techs, out of danger and get you back to your daily routine much faster.
The Seattle Police Department Arson/Bomb Squad (ABS) received funding for the RADeCO SPOT Robot through grant funding from the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This funding was passed by the Seattle City Council in April 2026 after the new robot was reviewed for potential privacy and security risks.
SPD’s ABS is the only full-time, fully dedicated bomb and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive (CBRNE) response unit in Washington State. ABS is also a member of the Washington State Regional Maritime Threat Response Group and works with federal, state, and local partners to detect and prevent threatened or actual acts of terrorism, CBRNE and bomb detection.
What does the SPOT robot do and what is it used for?
SPD ABS is the only unit authorized to house and operate the SPOT robot, and its only purpose is for explosive situations and preservation of human life, stemming from terrorism. The system allows trained SPD ABS bomb technicians to inspect, manipulate, and assess potentially dangerous devices from a distance.
How often is SPD’s Arson Bomb Squad actually used?
The primary mission of the Arson/Bomb Squad is to render safe and remove any explosives or improvised devices. Just this year, ABS has had more than 600 calls relating to bomb threats, improvised explosives, suspicious packages, and security sweeps for major events and dignitary visits.
Why is SPOT an improvement over the previous SPD ABS robots?
The primary ABS robot at the Seattle Police Department is nearly 20 years old and lacks modern capabilities needed to address modern threats and infrastructure. The current robots weigh more than a hundred pounds and can only be transported in the ABS mobile workshop, which is parked in the SPD garage in SODO. The SPOT robot is under 100 pounds and is transported in a regular pickup truck driven daily by ABS bomb technicians, making access easier and response time quicker.
Another improvement includes leaving the tracked robots behind and moving to the nimbler design that the SPOT robot offers. SPD’s previous robots were mounted on tracks, picture Short Circuit’s Johnny 5 or WALL-E, making movement slow and cumbersome, especially in tight spaces or staircases. The SPOT robot uses four legs, a thinner body shape, and can move up and down staircases with ease.
Other features on the SPD SPOT robot include a 360-degree camera, the SPOT Arm, and a microphone. The 360-degree camera transmits a live stream video feed directly to the operator’s controller, allowing the operator to get a full situational picture with accurate depth perception, a necessity when dealing with highly volatile items.
What can the SPOT Arm do? And can it grab me?
The SPOT Arm is possibly the most exciting new feature for the Arson/Bomb Squad. The arm, which is mounted on the body, can grasp, lift, carry, place and drag a variety of objects.
Picture there’s a door between the bomb technician operator and the explosive device. With the SPOT Arm, the operator can pinpoint the door handle, direct the Arm to open the door and proceed into the space with the explosive so no one else has to. Then the operator can manually direct the Arm to pick up the explosive device and place it in a safe container. All this can be done from nearly a mile away, keeping the operator and public as far from danger as possible.
One thing the SPOT arm can’t do is grab you and inflict injury. We tested it. On my boss. Because we’d rather have it be him than you. Boston Dynamics strictly prohibits the use of their robots for harm and intimidation.
Can a weapon be mounted to the robot?
No, a weapon cannot and will not be mounted to the SPOT robot. Not only is this a violation of the explicit use of the robot according to the manufacturer, Boston Dynamics, but it also doesn’t align with the ABS use of the robot. ABS intends to use the robot only for inspecting, manipulating, and identifying potential or actual CBRNE or IED risks.
Read more about Boston Dynamics’ stance here, with their article “General Purpose Robots Should Not Be Weaponized.”
If the robot has a camera, does it record?
The SPOT robot does have a camera, one of the best tools on it, but the camera does not record. The 360-degree camera transmits a live feed directly to the sole operator of the robot through an encrypted radio channel.
The cameras also have no facial recognition in them, another concern for many. Think of the sensor on your car, that beeps when you merge across three lanes without signaling so you don’t miss your exit. Except this robot won’t let you run into things (or people), as long as the collision avoidance setting is on. Trust me, we tried. Really hard. With my boss and he’s still here.
Does the robot have AI and will it get smarter and smarter, eventually taking over humanity?
The only semi-autonomous action the robot can take is opening a door, but this is after the operator has placed the robot at the right distance and pinpointed the handle on the live feed camera.
The SPD ABS robot does not have any independent decision making or machine learning. It will, as one ABS bomb technician put it, “be as dumb in 10 years as it is today.”
SPD ABS was kind enough to schedule a demonstration of SPOT, which they said they will not be renaming, because it is not a toy, or a dog, even though it kind of looks like both. The bomb technicians, Detective Nelson and Detective Coolidge, were excited about the technology and expressed how it increases the safety of suspects, the public, and officers.
Both Detectives had big dreams about how the robot could be used in the future, citing the capabilities for communication and observation from a distance, a core strategy in de-escalation. But for now, SPOT will only used for explosive detection and mitigation for the city of Seattle and threats to the port.