Miami is about to become home to a new experiment in automated policing—the county sheriff’s department has partnered with a private company called PolicingLab to test what it calls the “PUG”—a fully autonomous police vehicle equipped with artificial intelligence, 360-degree cameras, license plate readers, and even a drone launch platform.
Awesome, love that for all of us.
Key Points
- The Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Department is piloting the nation’s first self-driving police vehicle, developed by PolicingLab and powered by Perrone Robotics’ autonomous technology.
- The so-called PUG (Police Utility Ground vehicle) is equipped with 360-degree cameras, thermal imaging, license plate readers, and a drone launch system—making it more of a mobile surveillance platform than a traditional patrol car.
- Funded by PolicingLab rather than taxpayers, the year-long pilot will collect data and public feedback to determine whether the system could expand nationally, though civil liberties advocates are already raising concerns about privacy and oversight.
According to PolicingLab, the PUG—short for “Police Utility Ground vehicle”—is designed as a “force multiplier.” It uses autonomous driving technology from Perrone Robotics and a suite of sensors capable of real-time data collection, surveillance, and analysis.
In practice, that means the department can send the self-driving patrol car out to monitor traffic, identify vehicles, and dispatch drones without an officer behind the wheel—it’s really just a glorified fink. The PUG is even capable of live-streaming events taking place back to a command center, as well as two-way audio messaging…