BART Police Fight Crime From High Above In Portable Aerial Surveillance Tower
BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- Commuters were curious to know just exactly what was the 25 foot tall contraption looming over the parking lot at the North Berkeley BART station Wednesday morning. It looked like something out of a Transformers movie. One commuter posted the 'Leaning Tower of Policia' on Facebook.
Actually, it's the Portable Aerial Observation Tower. BART purchased a "Skywatch" mobile observation tower back in 2013 as a crime deterrent. The raised platform is topped with a cabin equipped with lights, a desk, a public address system and a radio. Tinted windows make it difficult to know whether or not the tower is occupied. It can be raised and lowered.
BART tows the tower to different locations based on need. One was observed in the Lafayette station parking lot, last September.
It is not certain why the tower is at the North Berkeley BART station. There have not been any recent break-ins according to crimemapping.com, but there were several about a mile away near Hopkins Street.
Cities around the country use similar towers, including Atlanta, and Washington D.C. Police in Glenwood, Illinois have a tower that has video surveillance capabilities.
