The Seattle Police once had drones. Then they gave them away because of local outrage that grew out of privacy concerns. Now, the police are looking for an alleged peeping drone.
  • E.S.
  • The Seattle Police Department once had drones (one of which is above). Privacy concerns helped end the SPD's drone program—thus freeing up more officers to search for this week's alleged peeping drone?

Via the SPD Blotter:

Police were called to a downtown apartment complex early Sunday after a woman was gazing out of her apartment window…and something gazed back.

That something, according to the woman, was a small drone. People have been worried about this kind of scenario for a while, and the difficulty in responding to alleged invasions of privacy like this is made clear by the police report. After the woman called police, the report says:

The concierge also went outside the building and spotted two men piloting the drone. The men, who were also carrying a tripod and video camera, soon packed up their gear, climbed into a white Mazda, and drove away.

Police are investigating whether any surveillance cameras in the area captured the incident and don’t yet know much about the drone flyers. We can confirm, however, that they definitely weren’t ours.

To restate the situation: Stationary surveillance cameras in downtown Seattle are now being checked for what they may have captured about the origins of the alleged flying surveillance camera. The future is now.