Ladies and gents, it appears the United States' "virtual fence" has run into some snags, according to Security Management. I won't even go into how a CCTV system is as only good as its operators and software/hardware platforms. Nor will I mention the same goes for IDS as well. I won't even go into how with all CCTV and IDS systems your biggest weakness lies in the money you're willing to spend to fix your problem (porous borders). I will, however, talk a bit about the virtual fence and what it means for us as a citizenry and as professionals in this field.
The Washington Post broke the story with its report that despite the Bush Administration's approval of the fence this past Friday, the construction and implementation of the fence will have to be delayed by at least three years.
It appears there we were technical problems from a prototype system as well as a test system located along a stretch of the border in Arizona. According to the report, the problems included:
1. According to the Washington Post, "Boeing's use of inappropriate commercial software, designed for use by police dispatchers, to integrate data related to illicit border-crossings. Boeing has already been paid $20.6 million for the pilot project, and in December, the DHS gave the firm another $65 million to replace the software with military-style, battle management software."
2. According to the Washington Post, "Technology originally central to the project, such as mobile radar/sensor towers, has been dropped, the article reports, in favor of "[m]ore traditional ground-based radar and airborne surveillance drones," according to Business Week."
This past Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asserted in his blog, "I’ve seen this system work with my own eyes, and I’ve talked with the Border Patrol Agents who are using it. They assure me that it adds value. That’s what matters to me, and it’s a fact that cannot be denied."
While the virtual fence is better than what we currently have, I'm having trepidations about a system that has so many setback and issues which are core to its very success. For more information click here for the Post's article on the virtual fence or here for the full article from Security Management.
