VANCOUVER, Wash. – Police in Vancouver are getting a good view of high-crime areas with an unusual new tool.

The department’s new portable "SkyWatch" observation tower is turning heads around the city.

The tower, which looks like a small airport control tower and is towed like a boat behind an SUV, extends to a height of 25 feet and allows officers a 360-degree view of parking lots, intersections and any other area it’s towed to.

The tower then collapses back down for transport.

The enclosed space at the top of the tower protects officers from the elements and includes camera mounts, powerful lights and radio equipment. It was purchased from an army surplus store in England for about $14,000.

Brand new, the unit costs "over six figures" according to the Vancouver police.

Vancouver police are training community observers with the group NOW, or Neighbors On Watch, to use the platform, which they foresee being installed in busy retail store parking lots and other potential high-crime areas during the upcoming holiday shopping season.

Prospective trainees said they are looking forward to their time in the post and said it should give police officers more time to give other crime fighting activities more attention.

The citizen observers can alert police if they see a crime in progress.

Police said the mere presence of the tower is a crime deterrent.