Hurst, Texas — A family in Texas is saying it’s unacceptable that local police hovered a drone over their back yard without warning.
Bobbie Sanchez, of Hurst, says her privacy was violated the day one of her children walked up to her and said, “Mommy, there’s a drone over our roof.”
And sure enough, there was. The drone hovered long enough for Sanchez to snap photos and call the police.
After all, as Sanchez told the local NBC affiliate, “They’re watching my children play in the back yard.”
But when she made the call to police, she received a bit of a shock.
“I called the Hurst police department,” she said, “and was pretty surprised to hear it was them.”
The department confirmed to local reporters that it was a training exercise and meant no harm. Still, the department says it’s changing its procedures when it comes to teaching its officers how to use drones.
“We’re working for our citizens,” Assistant Chief Steve Niekamp said. “If they have concerns then we definitely need to address it.”
That’s all fine and good, says Sanchez, but it doesn’t negate the uncomfortable feeling of being spied on:
“It might be legal but it’s still creepy to think that police can be saying that they’re training or looking for a criminal and still be looking at you in your backyard.”
Highlighting a core issue at the heart of the debate over the use of drones in the surveillance state, she added, “I’m not a person who will give up privacy for safety.”
This post originally appeared at Anti-Media.
