Rising two stories above Pacific Beach, a watchful police officer for the first time had a bird's-eye view of the boisterous crowds celebrating New Year's Eve along Garnet Avenue, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
The officer was sitting in an ICX mobile observation tower, which is similar to a cherry-picker lift with an enclosed pod at the top. The platform gives police a 360-degree vantage point through heavily tinted windows and allows them to direct responding officers on the ground below.