‘I need to know if there are any other cities’: Woman wonders if this unexpected feature in Tacoma shopping center is prevalent elsewhere. It is

A security system set up in a Tacoma, Washington, shopping center parking lot left a TikToker wondering whether this was the new norm—and had some viewers freaked out.

"I gotta know if there's any other cities that have this in their shopping center parking lots," Jenn Rupp (@jenn_rupp) told viewers in a recent TikTok video. "Listen to this audio and let me know if Tacoma is the only city that has this in their shopping center parking lots."

Switching to a view of the shopping center parking lot in question, Rupp showed a tall security device with flashing blue lights looming over the cars.

"For your safety, this parking lot is being recorded," came the announcement from its speakers before being repeated in Spanish.

What are the security towers with flashing blue lights?

The device on display in Rupp's video appears to be a LiveView Technologies D3 mobile unit. Powered by solar panels, D3 units are generally equipped with 360-degree cameras, strobe and flood lights, and a two-way speaker. 

The idea behind them is not just to record incidents like crimes or car accidents but to deter criminals from committing crimes within their view in the first place—hence the flashing lights and capacity for loud announcements.

And, as many people in the comments of Rupp's TikTok pointed out, they have been popping up all over the country.

"We have them all over the Phoenix area, shopping centers, gas stations, construction sites - really just everywhere," wrote @daydreaminlolly. "They have bright blue lights and are so obvious that we don't need the announcement."

"They are everywhere now days but not all have speakers," @cris6900000 agreed.

@jenn_rupp

Have you ever seen it??!

♬ original sound - Jenn Rupp

Security towers raise 'dystopia' concerns

LiveView Technologies often markets these products to retailers who want to prevent theft and vandalism, although they've also been appearing on school campuses and, more recently, have been directly utilized by police departments.

Last fall, San Francisco announced a pilot program that incorporates D3 units in an attempt to lower crime rates. A similar program was rolled out in Spokane, Washington in 2023.

"Obviously, cameras bring issues of security and privacy," Spokane councilman Zack Zappone said at the time, per The Spokesman-Review. "But when it comes to issues like this … I think it’s more important to make people feel safe in our community."

Not everyone agrees. The sudden appearance of these towers around Johns Hopkins University sparked controversy in November, with some students expressing concern over privacy, the potential for misuse of technology, and actually creating an environment of fearmongering with how purposely conspicuous the D3 units are.

That sentiment was echoed in the comments section of Rupp's TikTok as viewers called the announcements and flashing lights "dystopian" and likened them to something from "a bad sci-fi movie."

"1984 is here," one person wrote, referencing George Orwell's cautionary tale of mass surveillance. "This is just an introduction."

The Daily Dot has reached out to Rupp via TikTok comment.

Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘I need to know if there are any other cities’: Woman wonders if this unexpected feature in Tacoma shopping center is prevalent elsewhere. It is appeared first on The Daily Dot.