![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/d94d\/live\/fae24620-a37c-11ef-a4fe-a3e9a6c5d640.jpg.webp\")
Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA robotic dog named \u201cSpot\u201d made by Boston Dynamics is the latest tool in the arsenal of the US Secret Service.<\/p>\n The device has lately been spotted patrolling the perimeter of President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.<\/p>\n They do not have weapons – and each can be controlled remotely or automatically – as long as its route is pre-programmed.<\/p>\n Passers-by are warned by a sign on each of Spot\u2019s legs: \u201cDO NOT PET.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t know that anyone is tempted to pet these robot dogs. They do not look cuddly,\u201d said Melissa Michelson, a political scientist at Menlo College.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Video of Spot strutting around the property has gone viral on TikTok – where reactions range from calling them cool and cute, to creepy – and become fodder for jokes on American late night television. But its mission is no laughing matter.<\/p>\n \u201cSafeguarding the president-elect is a top priority,\u201d said Anthony Guglielmi, US Secret Service chief of communications, in a statement to the BBC.<\/p>\n In the months leading up to the US presidential election, Trump was the target of two apparent assassination attempts. The first took place at a July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and the other occurred at the Mar-a-Lago golf course in September.<\/p>\n Citing \u201cconcern for operational security,\u201d the Secret Service declined to answer the BBC\u2019s specific questions about the use of robotic dogs in Trump\u2019s security detail, including when the agency began deploying the device at his primary residence.<\/p>\n Boston Dynamics also declined to answer specific questions, although it confirmed the Secret Service was deploying its Spot robot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So why might the Secret Service be using them now?<\/p>\n Ron Williams, a former Secret Service agent who is now CEO of the security and risk management firm Talon Companies, suspects the assassination attempts against Trump added urgency to the agency\u2019s push \u201cto upgrade the technology that can enhance the ability to detect and deter,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n At Mar-a-Lago, where so much of the property is exposed, Williams said robotic dogs are long overdue. \u201cThey can cover a lot more area\u201d than humans alone, Williams said of the dogs, which he expects will become more of a common sight over time.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just the Secret Service. Williams said robotic dogs have increasingly become a tool used by militaries and law enforcement agencies around the world.<\/p>\n A bomb squad in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania that purchased Spot in the spring<\/a> deploys the device to inspect potential explosives, according to Boston Dynamics promotional materials.<\/p>\n Last year, the New York Police Department moved forward with adding the robotic canines to its force<\/a> despite complaints of \u201ca dystopian overreach of police power,\u201d according to Wired.<\/p>\n