Last we checked on the two drones acquired and subsequently decommissioned, after a public outcry, by Seattle police, they were sitting somewhere and the department wasn't sure how to get rid of them. It sounded like the department wanted to recoup some of the $82,000 in federal Homeland Security grant dollars it used to get the tiny Draganflyer X-6 sky robots.

On its blog, Seattle police joke that the drones are headed for Hollywood and explain:

SPD was able to transfer the Draganflyers to LAPD without having to repay any portion of the federal grant. SPD Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh accompanied the UAVs on a flight to Los Angeles—the UAVs were checked as baggage—where Chief McDonagh turned the Draganflyers over to an LAPD commander. The Seattle Police Foundation covered the cost of the UAVs’ final flight with SPD.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Seattle police "gifted" the drones to Los Angeles police, but SPD's Sean Whitcomb clarifies, "There's no cost to the city." Because the two cities are in a common federal grant region, it's as if LAPD had acquired them directly from the feds through the same program.

"The people of Seattle have spoken loudly on this subject and did not want the police department using this technology at this time," Whitcomb says.

LAPD took pains in their announcement to assure the people of Los Angeles that the drones will only be used for "narrow" purposes. "We wanted to make sure it didn't look like we were trying to sneak these things into action," an LAPD spokesman told the LAT.