With driverless cars becoming less science fiction and more science fact, Ford is looking to take autonomous driving to the next level: with driverless police cars.
The automaker has filed a patent application for just that, according to the gearhead site Motor1. According to the patent, the vehicle would operate, "in lieu of or in addition to human police officers," and could detect and self-dispatch to give chase to speeders or other lawbreakers.
The vehicles could also call for backup -- of the human kind -- if things get hairy.
Allaying Terminator fears somewhat is the fact that the patent depends on AI that's so sophisticated, it hasn't yet been invented. But the plan would be to have the robocop-car tail an offending vehicle, communicate with it if possible via the offending car's onboard tech, snap pictures of the license plate, and issue tickets remotely.