After I ran a series of posts on my visit to the Arizona border, the ACLU took me to task for making the case that better border security is a good idea. In the last ACLU post they were particularly irate that I found anything worthy in the technology demonstration project called “P-28″ which looked at integrating sensors to provide Border Patrol officers a “common operating picture.” The goal was to get the right information to the right person at the right time to do the right thing; identifying smuggler …
TUCSON, Ariz–Visiting the operations of “P-28″–the prototype of Homeland Security’s future “virtual fence” –with the Border Patrol made me more optimistic about the future of the program called the Secure Border Initiative or SBI Net. The virtual fence is not a “magic bullet” or even a substitute for “real fences” but in some places along the border—particularly the open tracks of desert in the border area around Tucson—it can make a valuable contribution making illegal border crossings a lot more difficult. P-28, mostly an experiment, is being replaced by new …
TUCSON, AZ: During my visit to the Tucson border area, I visited “P-28,” a test-bed of cameras, radar, and other sensors that cover 28 miles of the border. Often referred to as the “virtual fence,” it was the first step in the Secure Border Initiative or “SBI Net,” Homeland Security’s effort to bring technology to the border. Mired in controversy and bad publicity, P-28 is really a good news story that bodes well for the future of the department’s effort to secure the border.P-28 runs along more than two dozen …
