Spot® Instructions for Use – A Sabotage Manual. Community Self-Defense for Building a World Without Police (Dogs)

Abstract

Spot, the yellow four-legged robot dog manufactured by Boston Dynamics, and its canine lookalikes, have become increasingly ubiquitous in daily life. It patrols and surveils university campuses, parks, and neighborhoods under the auspices of safety and innovation. Many are not fooled by this narrative and, in response to its presence, have taken Spot’s removal into their own hands. The following text is a set of speculative abolitionist scenarios constructed by reappropriating the Boston Dynamics User Guide for Spot and shifting it into a manual of sabotage to be used instead against this carceral technology.