Watch the Video
In this video: Chief of Police Michael Salada shares how the Lewiston Police Department leverages Reconview’s mobile surveillance technology to proactively secure large-scale community events, protect thousands of visitors, and deploy advanced “eyes in the sky” security layers.
The Challenge: Protecting High-Attendance Community Festivals
The historic Village of Lewiston, New York, is a vibrant hub that hosts several major festivals and community events throughout the year. While these gatherings bring the community together, they also present massive security and crowd-management challenges:
- Massive Crowds: Attendance ranges from 10,000 to 15,000 people for smaller community events, surging up to 35,000 visitors during peak festivals.
- Evolving Security Needs: In an era of heightened security risks at public gatherings nationwide, the department recognized the critical need to add preventative, high-visibility security infrastructure to keep citizens safe.
The Solution: A Growing Fleet of Mobile Security Infrastructure
To address these challenges, the Lewiston Police Department began partnering with Reconview to modernize its tactical surveillance capabilities:
- 2024: The department deployed its first Reconview mobile security camera trailer to establish a flexible, rapid-deployment surveillance footprint.
- 2025: Building on that success, the department successfully secured a grant from the Law Enforcement Technology (LETECH) program (administered by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services). This grant funding allowed them to expand their fleet by adding a second mobile camera trailer and a flagship Reconview manned surveillance tower.
Real-World Deployment: The 2026 Garden Festival
During the annual Garden Festival held on June 20-21, 2026, the department put their full Reconview fleet into action. By strategically deploying the manned surveillance tower alongside both mobile camera trailers, command staff achieved comprehensive situational awareness across the entire festival footprint.
The accompanying video highlights exactly how these units operate in tandem to provide seamless event coverage, secure critical perimeters, and give law enforcement an unmatched vantage point.
“Over time we have seen incidents throughout the country in terms of mass gathering events and acts of violence against them. We want to ensure that when visitors of Lewiston come to these events that it is the safest place they can be at that time, so we recognize the fact that we needed to add some extra layers of security, and this was one of those ways. It has allowed us to really put eyes in the sky and help stop problems before they happen as well as respond to issues as they are going on.”
— Michael Salada, Chief of Police, Lewiston NY Police Department
Key Takeaways for Law Enforcement & Event Security
- Proactive Deterrence: High-visibility surveillance towers deter potential threats and stop issues before they escalate.
- Real-Time Response: Live-feed capabilities and elevated vantage points allow tactical teams to monitor ongoing incidents and coordinate fast, precise responses.
- Grant-Funded Scalability: Federal and state initiatives—such as the NYS LETECH program and the DOJ COPS School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP)—offer a proven framework for agencies to acquire cutting-edge security assets without straining local taxpayer budgets.