Oakland Police and Oakland Police Commission subcommittee, a civilian oversight body, discussed rules surrounding the city's use of military-grade police equipment in September. According to California state law, local police must be authorized by city leaders before they can deploy military equipment. 

Most of the meeting on Sept. 21 concentrated on modern policing, with the commissioners and police heads debating the use of tear gas and flash bangs. But two hours into the meeting, the conversation shifted to a gun-shaped accessory for robots called the "percussion actuated nonelectric disruptor," a tool used by bomb squads at war and for domestic operations. 

The accessory can be loaded with explosive forces ranging from blanks to pressurized water to even shotgun shells. This is a concerning new development in the potential use of weaponized robots against the American people by police across the country. 

"But God forbid something does happen where it's the only option," a member of the Oakland Police Commission said at the meeting. "Which is, I hate to say it, a robot with a shotgun may be our only hope."