In an effort to “improve safety for troopers on the ground and cut down the time roads are closed for crash scene investigations,” a handful of members of the Washington state patrol is learning to fly UAS so that they can investigate traffic accidents from the sky.

While some law enforcement agencies in Washington already use UAS, this is the first time that this technology has been used by state troopers.

According to Q13 Fox News, the UAS, which are manufactured by Lockheed Martin, will give detectives a “bird’s eye view of crash scenes,” and once the data is uploaded into a laptop, it will provide investigators with precise measurements.

The Lockheed Martin-manufactured UAS are equipped with Sony cameras, as well as more advanced components than what typical hobby UAS pilots have.

“This is the latest and greatest that’s out there right now,” Detective Eric Gunderson said during a demonstration of the agency’s training, which Q13 News attended.

During the demonstration, Gunderson and Detective Kevin Nelson practiced their UAS piloting skills at a mock crash scene. Gunderson and Nelson are two of the first licensed and trained UAS pilots at the state patrol.

For the pilot program, three UAS have been deployed by the state patrol for detectives working from Marysville to Olympia, Washington.

WSP public information officer Kyle Moore says, “we’re training different detectives in those regions to use these UAV’s, take these pictures, roll them out during accident scenes and try to clear the collisions quicker.”

If everything goes well with the UAS pilot program, the state patrol hopes to roll out nine UAS across the state.