The Adams County Sheriff’s Office recently became the second law enforcement agency in Mississippi to be certified to operate drones, but Warren County and Vicksburg probably won’t be in line to become one of the next certified jurisdictions.

“There are no immediate plans for us to use drones,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

Vicksburg police Chief Walter Armstrong said the department had discussed the use of drones at the beginning of the fiscal year in October, but the devices were not written into the budget and will not be implemented this year.

“We have not purchased one as of yet, and I don’t foresee purchasing one during this budget year,” Armstrong said.

He said it is still a possibility for the next fiscal year.

“I think it’s something we are going to revisit in the next budget year,” Armstrong said. “But there has not been any serious discussion about whether or not we’re going to go forth with it.”

He said he sees pros and cons with using drones in law enforcement. Some issues he thinks need consideration are privacy invasion and safety. He said a benefit would be the ability to take pictures of an isolated area or any area that isn’t readily visible.

“I can see some benefits in it,” Armstrong said. “We just need to do further studies on it.”

Before any decisions are made on whether to incorporate the devices into the police department, he said the administration would have to weigh those concerns.

He would like to turn to other law enforcement agencies that use drones for advice.

“It would be something we would consult with other law enforcement agencies, not only in Mississippi but even in other states and see what kind of benefit they saw in the usage of them,” Armstrong said.

He said law enforcement has to think outside the box to fight crime these days.

“Fighting crime the way we did 20, 25 years ago had changed tremendously. That is the reason why we have purchased other equipment in the Vicksburg Police Department that we did have as early as five years ago because things have changed,” Armstrong said. Prentiss County was the first in Mississippi to obtain certification, and Rankin County was the third.