(screenshot/KYTX CBS19)

Drones are used for lots of things — including helping out law enforcement.

The Tyler Police Department can now apply for a drone permit from the Federal Aviation Administration after this week’s Tyler City Council approval for an application to be sent to FAA.

Several East Texas agencies already use drones for public safety, including Smith County.

Tyler Police Department Assistant Chief Rusty Jacks said a drone would save the department time and money.

“Right now we have to call DPS to get a helicopter for something,” Jacks said. “Having a drone provides us the opportunity to economically do search and rescue, missing persons, aerial photography — those sort of things.”

Jacks said the helicopters fly in from other cities, and they’re expensive.

The department has already purchased a drone for $6,000 with the help of a private donation.

“It’s one of the fastest-growing industries in the country right now — drone technology,” Jacks said.

Mayor Martin Heines said the council knows how much a drone can help the police department.

“From a public safety standpoint, we’ve had several instances where we have needed to either find a lost person, and by being able to have a drone we can actually search certain areas much faster,” Heines said.

As for privacy concerns, Heines said wanted to assure the public that the drone would be closely monitored by the city and the FAA.

“There is going to be so much government code and so much internal policies that we’ll require from the police department to make sure that they do not get out of any sort of boundaries,” Heines said.

Jacks echoed that sentiment, saying Tyler residents have nothing to worry about when it comes to the drone being invasive.

“We’re talking about just a basic commercial drone that’s very noisy and obvious,” Jacks said. “You really couldn’t spy on someone with it if you wanted to.”

He said the potential to save lives, from missing children to elderly people with dementia, is what makes this drone so crucial to the force.

The council’s approval was just the first step in the FAA process.

Once the department submits its application it can take up to four months to get approval.