The San Jose Police Department may have denied having any records about a spy drone program, they've recently changed their tune.

It's not that they don't have one of these devices, they said, they've simply not flown it yet.

A few weeks back the SJPD said they didn't have any documents that supported the purchase of an aerial drone, but after some gentle pushing by the media, the paperwork managed to turn up.

Not only was there a purchasing slip, there was also an accompanying grant application to the federal government asking for assistance.

According to documents, the drone was acquired by the San Jose Police bomb squad in the early part of this year at a cost of about $7,000.

No one has been trained how to use it yet, they said, and it hasn't been flown yet.  Not even once.

Department leadership says that having an unmanned aerial vehicle is paramount, especially in crisis situations. They're far less expensive than a small bomb robot, and it takes little to no time to train someone how to use it.

And since it has a built in camera, it can help provide visual imagery of a potentially volatile situation.

A spokesperson for the SJPD describes it as an intelligence gathering resource that can be operated from a remote location.

Policies on when, where, how and why to use it have yet to be worked out.

Read the full story here:  Despite Repeated Denials, San Jose Police Definitely Have a Drone