Boston Dynamics in policing
Every deployment of Boston Dynamics technology by a law enforcement or justice body currently recorded on the tracker, across 1 country. Each entry is tied to a published source and carries the date it was last checked.
A deployment can involve more than one supplier. This page indexes entries where Boston Dynamics is the principal named supplier; the full vendor detail on each entry below remains the fuller answer.
Deployments
US Massachusetts State Police Teleoperated ground robot (Boston Dynamics Spot) Operational
- Legal basis
- None stated
- Oversight
- None identified; the ACLU of Massachusetts previously demanded disclosure of the force's Spot testing
The Bomb Squad operates two Spot platforms alongside its Special Tactical Operations Team, sending them to barricaded-suspect and potential hostage incidents, to investigate suspicious packages and to help secure crowded events, feeding situational awareness back to troopers and the incident commander so people do not have to approach on foot. Deployments have included a barricaded-suspect shooting scene in Danvers, Boston's Independence Day celebration and the Boston Marathon. Spot is a teleoperated mobility platform carrying cameras, roughly 75 pounds and costing around 100,000 dollars, not an autonomous decision-making system. The NYPD separately suspended Spot in 2021 after public backlash, then acquired two units in 2023.
Source: Bloomberg; Boston Globe; Police1 · last checked 2026-08-26