Is it a bird? A plane? The shuttle? Nope, but it might be a drone.

WTOP reported last week that a number of institutions and localities around the country have been given the green light by the FAA to use unmanned aerial drones. Today Fairfax County Police Chief David Rohrer hinted that they may be next, and they’d love to put the drones to use:

“Drones will certainly have a purpose and a reason to be in this region in the next, coming years,” said Fairfax County Police Chief David Rohrer, while speaking on WTOP’s “Ask the Chief” program on Monday. “Just as a standpoint as an alternative for spotting traffic and sending information back to our VDOT Smart Traffic centers, and being able to observe backups.”

Arlington County is currently allowed to use the drones, while Montgomery County’s permit has apparently expired.

Civil libertarians have expressed privacy concerns. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) recently wrote a letter in which he asked the FAA to ensure that privacy protections are implemented for non-military uses of the drones.

Drones are certainly more famous (and infamous) for their use in the war on terror, but they have plenty of civilian purposes. As controversial as this may be, I would be OK with local drones being armed with Hellfire missiles, if only to teach people who block the box a lesson.