Ohio police department retires its most expensive cop after zero arrests, cases, or tickets in nearly a year

The Dublin Police Department in Ohio has reportedly ended its use of a patrol robot known as “DubBot” after the machine failed to produce any arrests, criminal cases, or citations during its time in service, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Dublin police spokesperson Robyn Gray told the outlet that the robot, officially called the K5 Autonomous Security Robot, was made by a California-based company named Knightscope, and it was introduced last summer and stationed at the Rock Cress Parking Garage, where it was tasked with monitoring the area for criminal activity.

The robot was equipped with a 360-degree camera and an emergency call button that could connect people directly with a police officer, Gray said. Despite this, Gray said the robot “never identified any incidents requiring a police response.”

The robot’s deployment was framed as a pilot program before being discontinued

DubBot reportedly began patrolling in July of 2025. Over the following months, the robot was apparently stationed in the parking garage to observe activity and alert authorities if needed, though the outlet reported that no such alerts led to any law enforcement action.

The spokesperson announced this week that the robot would be returned to Knightscope. Gray said the arrangement had been described as a pilot program, and that program was said to have concluded with the robot’s removal from service.

Per the report, the city paid $67,548 for the robot’s services. However, the outlet noted that Knightscope was actually paid $128,080 in total, and the company is expected to issue a refund of approximately $60,000.

Gray said that DubBot “did not lead to any arrests, criminal cases or tickets” during its time of service. This was apparently a central reason cited for ending the robot’s deployment.

Knightscope’s K5 robot has reportedly been used by other organizations in different capacities, including for patrols and security monitoring. Robotics has also been applied to very different kinds of problems, including efforts to control invasive species in other parts of the country.

Gray did not indicate whether any incidents occurred in or around the Rock Cress Parking Garage during the robot’s deployment that went undetected by the machine. Elsewhere in the robotics field, other countries have pursued very different applications, including a robotics demonstration showing combat-style movement.