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I think the questions are "why are the police using covid relief funds to buy this?" and "would they use this on the general population, or just the homeless population?"

The second question is very important because it is a leap down the slippery slope towards having a robust and officially sanctioned caste system.

This raises an interesting question - why are the police doing this in the first place? It seems more appropriate to have healthcare workers monitoring peoples' health than the police department.

Because the Health Dept. doesn't have ~$100,000 to drop on a robot dog, the sales literature for Spot is slanted to appeal to a macho law enforcement mindset, and the police realize that the optics of "robot police dog" need at least token camouflage.

A gun?

Of course, in case some citizen has a negative reaction to police presence for some unknown reason. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is the continued, ever-present threat of violence.

American police carry guns.