South Korea Deploys Hologram Cop To Fight Crime And It’s Actually Working

RoboCop is an awesome movie, even if I have a hell of a time remembering if it's Peter Weller or Ed Harris in the lead role. I know it's Weller, but I always have to stop and think about it. They're the same guy to me, and I mix them up nonstop. It's the baldness.

Anyway, the movie took a speculative look at the future of policing, and while there may come a day when we get a human-robot hybrid patrolman, it won't beat holographic officers.

Those have already arrived, and one is working in Seoul, South Korea (before you ask, yes, that's the good one).

According to a report from the BBC, a hologram of a cop has been installed at Jeo-dong Park in central Seoul in the hope that it might reduce crime. A projection of an officer appears every two minutes between 7 pm and 10 pm, which sounds way too early for that to work, but they didn't ask me.

So, essentially, it's an anti-crime scarecrow. I get that. I can't tell you how many times I've been driving and stomped on the brakes because I saw a cop car up ahead, only for it to be an empty cruiser.

It works. I just don't think it would work as well if I could see right through it.

I don't think I'd fall for that. I'd litter so hard in front of that thing and not even think twice.

But here's what's wild: that Haunted Mansion ghost projection is being credited with reducing crime by 22 percent since it was introduced. Of course, with numbers like that, there's now talk of adding more holographic cops around the city.

Alright, stand corrected. I'll eat a plate of crow on this one.

Something tells me this wouldn't work here. Someone would probably graffiti the projector almost immediately.

But, hey. Since that technology is putting up numbers in South Korea, maybe it's worth a shot.