San Jose police discover that, yes, they did buy a drone

http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/30/san-jose-police-discover-that-yes-they-did-buy-a-drone/


If this was in a cop show, it might be called “The Case of the Missing Drone.”


In an epic back-and-forth with the Police Department of San Jose, Calif., Vice finally proved that, yes, the department had indeed bought a drone.


The department initially told Vice that it was unable to locate any documents about using federal grants to purchase a small, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), but eventually, it was able to track down the receipts and find the grant application that funded the purchase. (One would think that a Silicon Valley police department would have sufficient capability to electronically search for documents.)


“Law enforcement has natural uses for drone technology,” chief technologist Joe Hall of the Center for Democracy and Technology told VentureBeat. But, he added, “the inadequate response to the request for information is troubling, [since] the public needs to have a solid basis for trusting that law enforcement will use drones in a responsible manner.


“Shenigans like these do not inspire confidence.”