BISMARCK – There’s good news for one local law enforcement agency hoping to use drones to fight crime.

The Burleigh County Sheriff’s Department says they have been granted a four-year waiver to operate drones over people.

The news makes the department the first in the state to receive a waiver and just the second in the country.

The drones will be able to do things officers, or even police dogs cannot, such as follow a suspect that tries to escape using water.

KX News talked with the Department and they tell us it’s another important tool to fight crime.

“We can get eyes in places that we can’t get to, we can get perspectives on different angles that we wouldn’t normally like of a motor vehicle crash along water, we can fly out and get a view from out over the water looking back at the roadway, things like that,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Tom Schroeder.

The Sheriff’s Department currently has five drones, with a deputy assigned to each one.