American Border Patrol
Today the BBC is reporting on the Texas Virtual Border Watch Programme that uses volunteers to watch for border intruders over Internet cameras. Since November of 2008 the 21-camera system has aided in the apprehension of 21 people.
The use of Internet cameras on the border was pioneered by American Border Patrol back in 2005. With financial support from the Laurel Foundation, ABP was able to expand the system to include a $90,000 thermal camera mounted on a 50-foot mast right on the Mexican border.
The system was totally controlled over the Internet, including pan-and-tilt and zoom. ABP developed sophisticated software to assign volunteers as only one person could control the camera it at a time, although many could watch.
Within a six-month period "Operation Virtual Vigilance" aided in the apprehension of more than 1,500 people. It was featured on KSAT-TV in San Antonio on Nov. 19, 2008 - the month the Texas system was inaugurated.
What happened to Virtual Vigilance? Two things; Cordelia Scaife May died, and the feds built a fence. May had directed her foundation to donate money to ABP but new management, led by an environmentalist lawyer, cut us off just before we were to receive a significant grant it had asked us to apply for. And, the feds built a good fence right where our camera was located but we lacked the funds to relocate it.
ABP has led the way on the border but lack of financial support, due mainly to a news blackout, has prevented us from achieving the kind of success were are capable of.
