It's a possibility because the “world's first operational Robocop” has already reported for duty in Dubai.

The robot, a customized REEM model was designed by the Spanish company PAL Robotics. Here you can see the robot in action. It is less than 170 cm tall, and its armor is made of high-strength plastic.

The main advantage of the robot is its ability to communicate in several languages, which is a big plus for providing information to foreign visitors. The machine is equipped with a touch screen that can be used to pay fines for traffic violations, or to report offenses and crimes directly to the local police station. It is also fitted with a smoke detector to report fires, and a facial recognition system to spot and report offenders.

The Dubai police department hopes to have 25 percent of its police force composed of robot officers by the year 2030. This is just the first step for the authorities. They eventually want to release a fully-functional robot that can do the same type of work as a living and breathing police officer.

While there are questions surrounding Dubai's implementation of its robot officer, it's clear that other countries will be watching Dubai's experiment closely as they weigh the pros and cons of their own robotic police force.

What do you think? Is robot policing the way of the future?