Drug Cops Seek to Use Monkey in Enforcment Efforts
Can you imagine having your house searched and the cop who walks in with the Kevlar vest using the two-way radio is a monkey?
[A] police SWAT team in Mesa, Ariz., has applied for $100,000. from the federal government to buy a capuchin monkey and train it to perform law enforcement duties. Until now, monkeys have only been on the other side of the law, but officers say a police monkey could search buildings, find bodies, and gather information with a video camera and two-way radio. The officer who wrote the application says the monkey itself would cost $15,000, with the rest of the grant going toward equipment and upkeep.
The monkey would be trained in special-ops intelligence.
Since 1979, capuchin monkeys have been trained to be companions for people who are quadriplegics by performing daily tasks, such as serving food, opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, retrieving objects and brushing hair.
....Weighing only 3 to 8 pounds with tiny humanlike hands and puzzle-solving skills, Truelove said it could unlock doors, search buildings and find suicide victims on command. Dressed in a Kevlar vest, video camera and two-way radio, the small monkey would be able to get into places no officer or robot could go.
Update: From Drug War Rant:
| < Sen. Kennedy's New Website | John Cloud: Today's Most Dissed Person in the Blogosphere > |