--- title: "Ominous Surveillance “Scarecrows” Appearing Across America" description: "A growing surveillance dragnet made up of \"scarecrows\" and \"COWs\" is spreading throughout the United States." date: "2026-03-28" modified: "2026-03-28" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/surveillance-scarecrows-police" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Ethics" - "Facial recognition" - "Future Society" - "Privacy" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" --- # Ominous Surveillance “Scarecrows” Appearing Across America ![A scarecrow dressed in blue denim overalls and a red plaid shirt with straw accents at the cuffs and ankles. It wears a straw hat and has a camera lens for a face. A red bandana is tucked into the overalls' pocket. The scarecrow is set against a partly cloudy blue sky.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images* Police technology is a major business in the US. Altogether, the law enforcement equipment market was valued at nearly [$11.7 billion]() in 2025, and as dystopian toys like [self-driving squad cars]() and [crime fighting drone hives]() make it to market, that number is set to skyrocket. A growing favorite among police departments throughout the country is the "camera on wheels" platform, known as COWs for short — or "scarecrows," for a more ominous moniker. While they're not quite as exciting as "Fallout" style [police robots](), COWs offer a low-effort solution to departments whose panopticon has a few blind spots. COWs are basically tiny tow-trailers with a solar panel, battery, and telescoping CCTV mast attached. They're sold by high-tech ventures such as [Flock Safety]() — shown below — and rented out by legacy security enterprises like [Allied Universal](). ![A Flock mobile security trailer, featuring two wheels, a solar panel, and a mast with four CCTV cameras.]() As Nile Coates, vice president of US sales at surveillance firm ECAM said in a rather uncritical interview with [news outlet *KTLA5*](), these towers can easily plug into local police feeds via cellular networks or WiFi, bringing AI-powered facial recognition to any public or commercial location you can dream of. "Our first line of defense is deterrence. We stop crimes before they start," Coates told the station. "This presence alone reduces risk, and when activity escalates, our team can dispatch directly to local guard partners as well as law enforcement." The amount of cameras deployed by these companies and their law enforcement contractors is staggering. ECAM, for example, boasts a dragnet of over 150,000 cameras, Coates bragged to the news channel. "Sometimes they're referred to as scarecrows because they have bright flashing lights on them, cameras, and they look kind of scary," Logan Harris, CEO of military surveillance company Spotter Global, told *KTLA*. Scary or not, Harris says the COWs aren't going anywhere anytime soon, as police departments, security contractors, and military agencies flood the for-profit surveillance industry with cash. "The market has spoken," the CEO told *KTLA*. "It's been quite amazing how fast this whole market segment has grown. Having that type of video evidence or other sensor data is really helpful." **More on surveillance:** *[The Head of the FBI Just Admitted Something Moderately Horrifying]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()