From a New York Times story by Jeffrey C. Mays headlined “400-Pound N.Y.P.D. Robot Gets Tryout in Times Square Subway Station”:

What weighs almost 400 pounds, stands roughly 5-foot-3, and, according to Mayor Eric Adams, will be a valuable tool in New York City’s law enforcement efforts?

To Mark Radlein, a restaurant manager, it looked like an oversized version of R2-D2, the droid from the “Star Wars” films. “I don’t know what it’s supposed to be,” he said as he took a picture of the object.

Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a privacy and civil rights group, had a more dismissive view.