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Texas Plans Border-Patrol Webcams 

By Gwendolyn Mariano
June 5, 2006 4:35PM 

As the debate over immigration continues to rage, an innovative new border-patrol technique that draws on the power of the Internet is adding more fuel to the fire.

Texas Governor Rick Perry is implementing a voluntary virtual watchdog program along the Texas border by using $5 million to set up hundreds of Internet-connected surveillance cameras at criminal hotspots and along routes that are commonly used to enter the country.

Perry's program, announced last week, comes on the heels of a controversial immigration reform bill introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter. The bill, which entails security and border patrol initiatives, passed the Senate by a 62 to 36 vote on May 25.

Virtual Patrol Plan
Texans, as well as those in other states, will be able to watch real-time video streams on the Internet to monitor the borders. The cameras will run 24 hours a day and will have night-vision capabilities.

If these border watchers see something suspicious taking place, they can call an 800 number that will be routed to the appropriate law-enforcement agency.

"The governor has been talking to his staff for a month now and looking at ways to implement technology more and also expand the neighborhood watch program," said Kathy Walt, a spokesperson for Perry. "We will begin installing the first of hundreds of cameras within 30 days."

The governor's virtual watch program is part of a multipronged approach aimed at filling the gaps in border security. As one part of the plan, Texas will dedicate $20 million in available state funds to maintain the governor's "Operation Rio Grande" with technology upgrades.

Surveillance Feasibility
While surveillance cameras are continuously being taken to new levels of technical performance, their use poses many challenges to law-enforcement agencies.

At the end of last year, the Department of Homeland Security released a report called "A Review of Remote Surveillance Technology Along the U.S. Borders" that cited not only contractor negotiation problems and false alarms but also environmental, cultural, and historic restrictions in placing cameras at certain locations.

"The most time-consuming aspect of installing RVS (remote video surveillance) sites and associated infrastructure  involved site selection, securing land access, and performing environmental assessments," the report said. "In some instances, these administrative activities took more than 12 months to accomplish."

The report specifically addressed, for example, obtaining permission from governmental and nongovernmental agencies to place surveillance technologies at certain sites.