COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Three new employees at the Cobb County Sheriff's Office are making a sizable first impression. The DEKA robots — nicknamed "jailbots" — stand nearly six feet tall and weigh almost 300 pounds.
"The DEKA robots can be the initial eyes and ears for our deputies," Sheriff Craig Owens said. "That means I can prevent a deputy from getting hurt and being out of work for weeks or months or longer and even keeping the detainee from being hurt."
Owens said his team is testing three robots for the next 90 days. They'll spend half of that time working outside; and half the time patrolling inside.
"As we finish our pilot program, we'll be able to put some defensive mechanisms on it, like a Taser or a puffer ball, all non-lethal," Owens said. "He will not be by himself unless he's on exterior patrol."
Dean Kamen, president of DEKA Research and Development, said he typically innovates in the medical field. He's excited to apply some of those concepts in a correctional facility.
"It's hearing. It's listening. It's seeing what's going on, and it's even seeing things that a human eye cannot see," Kamen said. "It not only sees things, but it can store them, interpret them and send them to people to help them be more efficient and safer in what they do."
New 'jailbots' at Cobb County adult detention center | Photos
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That could include flagging windows that are not typically open or conducting head counts inside the facility. The robots are meant to supplement correctional officers, especially when they're short-staffed.
"Robots don't call out sick. They don't take vacation," Owens said. "All they need to do is be charged and, so, that's also going to help me with some efficiency as well."
For now, the pilot is at no cost the county. Owens said they want to make sure the technology works before they pay anything or hire the robots full-time.
"After they prove that they can do what they say they can do, we'll give them a name, make them a little badge as well because they are part of our team," he said. "We will implement that later on."
Cobb County is the first in the country to employ these robots and the county wants to make sure they are worth the price tags.