(Photo courtesy of Bureau of Land Management) Drone flies over smoke from wildfire.

If you fly a drone near an emergency or law enforcement operation in Arizona you could now be charged with a crime.

Senate Bill 1449 was one of more than 300 new state laws that took effect on Saturday. In addition to regulating drone activity in the airspace around an emergency situation, it also makes it illegal to intentionally photograph things like prisons and dams.

Damon Cecil is a captain with the Arizona Department of Public Safety. He says the rule will reduce the risk of a midair collision of a drone and an official aircraft.

"And just imagine if this wasn’t here, imagine how chaotic the airspace around whether it’s a wild fire for us, whether it’s a collision scene, where you have multiple drones," Cecil said.

The law is one of the latest efforts local governments have been taking to regulate drone activity.