In October of last year, I reported on the network of autonomous police vehicles being deployed in Dubai that included hoverbikes and fleets of mini police surveillance vehicles that look like electric cars. The vehicles are part of a citywide initiative of embedding artificial intelligence to patrol with biometric and conventional surveillance tools. I commented at the time that these measures were fairly easy to dismiss by readers accustomed to a constitutional republic, since Dubai is ruled by an absolute monarchy under Sharia Law that has free rein to rapidly implement new forms of governance. Nevertheless, I warned that Dubai was playing host to the World Expo 2020 where they would be featured as a model for any large city of the future.

Apparently, stalwart all-American company – Ford – is prepared to help usher in the technocratic police state to the (diminishing) land of the free.

Business Insider is reporting on a partnership that Ford has established with the U.S. government that granted the company a patent for autonomous police vehicles.  Of course the issuance of a patent does not necessarily mean that it's guaranteed to become reality, but given the stature of the company and Americans' increasing penchant for giving up liberty for the promise of security, it should not be dismissed.

According to designs seen by Business Insider, the future cars could independently find hiding places, detect vehicles breaking the law, and chase down drivers.

The designers envision car-to-car technology which would let the patrol vehicle check whether a car was being driven manually or automatically, scan the driver's licence, and, if need be, issue a ticket remotely.

The goal of the autonomous police car, Ford says, is not to replace human police officers, but to help them with "routine police tasks."