Continuity mistake: Right after Sergeant Reed has removed Fredrickson's sign from the locker and says "Murphy, front and center," you see two men standing behind Murphy. When it cuts, only one of the men are behind him. (00:04:55)
Continuity mistake: The first day together, Murphy and Lewis are in the car exiting the police station. When the angle changes to a back view of the car, Lewis is gone. (00:06:30)
Continuity mistake: When Bob Morton, Johnson, and Kinney get off the elevator, a computer voice chimes that it's floor 95. After the board meeting, Morton and Johnson leave the board room (and it's the same floor as you can see the two paintings on the wall that lead to the board room) a sign next to the elevator says "120." (00:07:05 - 00:13:40)
Visible crew/equipment: In the scene where all the OCP executives are listening to Dick Jones presenting ED-209, and while the "old man" starts talking about Delta City, watch when the camera moves along backwards to show the city model he's talking about and you can see reflected on several TV sets that are on the wall both the camera operator and another man behind him, perhaps the boom operator. (00:09:25)
Continuity mistake: When the executive is shot by Ed 209 near the beginning, we see bullet holes in his back, so they're obviously going through, but there's no damage to the windows behind him. (00:11:30)
Revealing mistake: When ED-209 is being demonstrated for the first time and goes out of control, when the young executive is being shot, repeatedly, by ED-209, you can see packets of red paint strapped to his back, under his suit. (00:11:55)
Deliberate mistake: When the board member is shot up in the beginning by ED-209, in one or two shots you can see the bullet impacts happen about 1/2 a second after the shot starts (Criterion DVD version). (00:11:55)
Continuity mistake: After the ED-209 kills the business man, the blood on the city scale model disappears. (00:12:00)
Factual error: The film takes place in Detroit, but it is glaringly obvious that it was shot in Dallas. First of all, in the early scene where Murphy chases Boddicker's gang on the highway, Reunion Tower, one of Dallas's most famous landmarks, is visible in the background. Much of Dallas's skyline is also visible in the final scene where Robocop confronts Dick Jones in the OCP boardroom. (00:15:15)
Continuity mistake: When Murphy and Lewis are chasing the villains in the beginning, one of the bad guys shoots the windshield of the cop car, leaving a hole and messing up the glass. Not even a second later, the windshield is fine. (00:15:45)
Continuity mistake: While Clarence is interrogating Murphy, Emil is holding his shotgun by his side. In the next shot, he is holding it across his stomach with both hands. (00:21:25)
Visible crew/equipment: Right after Clarence Boddiker blows off Murphy's hand with a shotgun, Murphy turns around grasping his wrist and begins to face the four criminals that are about to kill him. During this scene of him turning around, you can see a crew members fingers move in the bottom right corner of the frame. We know it's not Boddiker's fingers, as he was just wearing black gloves when he shot off Murphy's hand. (00:22:35)
Revealing mistake: When they're supposedly tightening down the L.E.D. the scientist is using a normal drill bit attachment. (00:27:00)
Continuity mistake: RoboCop walks past the police department lobby for the first time, following Bob Morton. Robo is walking at a very slow, deliberate pace. The rest of the cops in the department run as fast as they can to the far end of the building to see where they are taking him. Despite running about four times faster than Robocop he has already cleared the end of the hallway and is in the regeneration room before the cops get there. (00:29:50)
Continuity mistake: In the beginning when the tracking device is shown, the dot is red and the building outlines are orange. When Dick Jones is holding it later, the dot is white and the outlines are red. (00:30:20 - 01:08:05)
Revealing mistake: When Robocop is completed and they are going over his gear, they show a tracker that shows his location at all times. The tracking unit is obviously fake; the street layout is a decal and the "blip" that is Robocop is in a fixed position. (00:30:20)
Revealing mistake: In the firing range scene, before Officer Lewis puts her gun down, and leans forward to look at Robocop shooting, we see him fire three shots. Look closely the second time he pulls the trigger. He pulls the trigger, but there is no ammo sound, nor is there a firing spark. This is in the VHS version. (00:32:10)
Other mistake: In the scene in the shooting range where Robocop's firing skills are being tested, as the shot focuses in on Officer Lewis, the last cop in the row next to the wall, two spaces to her right can be seen holding his empty gun at the target but not moving it, reloading it, or firing it. It seems as if he is frozen. (00:32:25)
Audio problem: When RoboCop is being tested in the shooting gallery, he puts his gun away in his leg. But the sound effects for his leg closing are out of sync with the actual movements of his leg. (00:32:55)
Continuity mistake: When the bearded man is robbing the convenience store, he demands that the owner opens the safe. Look at the Lite cans on the safe. When seen from the right, there are four cans. When the owner kneels down to try and open it, there are now three. When we cut back to a view from the right there are again four. Finally when the robber is shooting at Robocop there are only two. (00:33:20)
Answer: Because he knew he was doing illegal activities. Robocop was said to be highly efficient at his job and Jones did not want to risk him out on the streets without the insurance of shutting him down if Robo came after him.
MasterOfAll