put the same damn electronics down there as watch over Area-51... you'll see results.
Posted on 06/28/2006 5:24:33 PM PDT by John Jorsett
SAN YSIDRO – Border Patrol agents say 48 new video cameras, in use since last month along a 5.2-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border, have helped increase apprehensions and reduce the number of attempted illegal crossings.
Agents say the cameras allow them to get a bird's eye view of those trying to slip into the country, and to better track them until they can be detained.
“It's like having a second pair of eyes out there,” said Wendi Lee, a Border Patrol spokeswoman. “This will help us monitor the area and let the agents in the field know what's going on out there.”
Three Border Patrol agents kept watch over a bank of 24 TV monitors last week in an office in San Ysidro off Beyer Boulevard. Agents scan the TV screens 24 hours a day.
The cameras are mounted atop 12 poles placed evenly along the north side of a reinforced second border fence that runs east from the San Ysidro border crossing to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Each 50-foot pole has four cameras, two for daylight, and two for nighttime use.
Local Border Patrol spokesman Kurstan Rosberg would not provide the cost of the camera system, saying U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Washington, D.C., contend the contract is still open and all costs had not yet been incurred. A call placed to Washington was not returned.
Al Gumbs, a Border Patrol agent monitoring the camera system, said there were 191 apprehensions in the first week of use, a jump from the weeks just prior to May 18, when the Border Patrol began using the cameras.
“We found after probably about the first 1½ weeks that apprehensions went up and getaways went down,” said Gumbs, referring to those who illegally cross the border and avoid detection. “We also saw an increase in the number of people who jump the primary fence but who run back into Mexico. Whether it's the cameras noticing them or the agents we call after spotting them, turn-backs have gone up.”
Gumbs said those “turn-backs” probably would have been “getaways” had the cameras not spotted them.
Agents watching the monitors usually spot people trying to sneak across the border, but field agents also seek assistance from the cameras.
“We'll move the cameras their way to help them out,” Gumbs said. “It works both ways. What also happens is anytime we have a sensor that gets hit and it comes up on our computers, we can pan the cameras in the direction of that sensor.”
Border officials say apprehensions in the San Diego sector totaled 126,913 in the year that ended Sept. 30. Since then, there have been 108,497. Cameras have been in use in other border areas of the state and in Texas and Arizona, but this is the first time anyone can recall using them near San Diego.
One morning this month, the Border Patrol detained four people who had managed to cross the border at the same time a larger group appeared to be attempting to cross about a quarter-mile away, Gumbs said.
The larger group was assembled to create a disturbance, he said, and distract agents in the field. However, with cameras trained on both groups, agents were able to track the four people and apprehend them.
“Obviously, it was staged,” Gumbs said. “Their goal was to get those four bodies north. The others just created the diversion. But we got them.” Gumbs said the larger group attacked an agent when he got close to the group. Rocks were thrown at the agent, breaking the windows on his vehicle and injuring him with the broken glass.
Rosberg, the Border Patrol spokesman, said assaults along the border were up. In the year that ended Sept. 30, he said, there were 259 assaults on agents involving rocks, sticks, guns, pipes, vehicles and physical attacks. So far this year, there have been 170.
Rosberg said he hoped the cameras would not only help identify smugglers so that they could be prosecuted, but also aid the prosecution of those who harmed agents or those being smuggled.
The Bush administration is deploying thousands of National Guard members to assist in border security efforts. Border Patrol officials say those heading to San Diego may be assigned to monitor the camera system.
I've noticed quite an uptick in positive stories about how we're getting the border under control, arresting illegals, etc. The Bush administration PR machine is on high rev.
The Bush administration BS machine is on high rev.
ping
So since Sept. 30, 108,497 have been apprehended. That's enough folks to fill the seats in San Diego Qualcomm Stadium + 38,000 on the field, and that's just in the San Diego sector. I wonder if they caught and released them, and how many others made it through.
Yeah, President Bush has a lot of influence with the MSM...
Correct Sir! Lets not forget that at this time of the year the crossing come to a crawl along the desert. It happens every year. Lets not let these open border pimps take credit for the weather.Sheesh. When an administration has to lie to it's base. It is all but finished.
ping
put the same damn electronics down there as watch over Area-51... you'll see results.
You can never know for sure in advance what effect some effort may have. Not to say that the video cameras is a complete answer (you would think they would have been a no-brainer many years ago). But if they help, they help, and there's nothing wrong with noticing if they do or not.
I agree. It's just that after 40 years of smelling BS when it comes to illegal immigration, I have had quite enough. The feds need to pick the pace!
I wonder if the Border Patrol could pick up a few extra bucks by offering souvenir photos to the illegals?
about X x 4
Too bad we can't hook up paintball guns to those cameras, and tie them into gaming software on the internet. I'd pay a couple bucks per crosser to whack them with paint (proceeds to pay for the paint, of course).
"" It's just that after 40 years of smelling BS when it comes to illegal immigration, I have had quite enough. The feds need to pick the pace!""
Yeah, thats alot of BS : )
The cameras are a great tool in allowing us to deport more illegal aliens more often. LOL
But how many more went down to mile 5.3 to cross?
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