Arlington Police Set To Deploy New, Improved Sky Watch Towers To Help Protect Crowds
ARLINGTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Arlington Police say a better view from above will help them protect crowds at concerts, special events and Cowboys or Rangers games.
The department will soon deploy three new Sky Watch Towers that have enhanced technology.
"It raises about 27 feet in the air, roughly two stories," said Arlington Police Service Assistant Jay Hall. "Usually at, for instance, concerts, if there's a large crowd gathering in a particular location, an officer or person that's in there can direct our ground forces to that area to see what's going on."
Arlington Police already have more than a dozen older models of the Sky Watch Towers, but the new ones come with an important enhancement: cameras.
"The camera system on this tower actually allows us to be able to see license plates, clear picture of people and what they're wearing, better facial descriptions," Hall said.
The towers can even be unmanned and the cameras operated from the station.
"Our police department intel unit can remote into it and access it via Wifi," he said.
The three new Sky Watch Towers just recently came in, so they're not being used out on the streets yet.
When they are deployed, they'll likely be placed at places like AT&T Stadium, Texas Live!, Globe Life Field, Hurricane Harbor or Six Flags.