The SkyWatch command tower is elevated 30 feet above ground level to give police a panoramic view of the streets and is fitted with sophisticated surveillance equipment. The manufacturer of the device boasts that the tower can be used for “civilian security operations” and “crowd control”.

“It allows us to be able to see in various directions. The cameras have amazing clarity and it’s an expansion of our police camera surveillance system,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told WKBW News.

The spy tower is basically just a high-tech version of an almost identical-looking guard tower from a detention camp, for example the one used at Guantanamo Bay used to watch over terrorists.