The Santa Maria Police Department has a new robot to help in SWAT situations.
The tactical robot was purchased by the Santa Maria Police Council for about $40,000.
Santa Maria police say the SWAT team will use the robot to enter buildings to gather information, take pictures, and communicate with people.
"We want to be able to use tools to prevent officers from going in harm's way, and it makes it safer for community members because it's another, like I said, a piece of equipment that allows us time and distance between the person we're trying to gain compliance from and the officers, so when we have that time and distance it allows us to look at other options and hopefully resolve the incident without any use of force or anything of that nature by simply gaining their compliance and having them come to us," explained Santa Maria Police Chief Marc Schneider.
The Grover Beach Police Department also received a robot as a donation from local resident Hieu Doan.
