Border Patrol Faulted For Favoring Steel And Concrete Wall Over High-Tech Solutions

[Elderberry]

NPR by John Burnett 8/10/2020

Trump's massive border wall gets all the buzz.

But U.S. Customs and Border Protection is quietly testing a new generation of free-standing surveillance towers on the Arizona border that could revolutionize border security. The telescoping towers are equipped with infrared and daytime cameras, along with laser range-finders and illuminators that can zoom in on a target miles away for a close-up. They're mounted in the bed of a Ford F-150 pickup, so they're completely mobile and can be operated remotely.

They can tell an agent if an object moving north is a cow or a single migrant or a family.

"The camera sees something, it's going to alert and send that information to an agent in the field. So my iPhone will have an app on it and that information will come directly to me," said Kelly Good, deputy executive director of CBP's Program Management Office Directorate. He's in charge of technology acquisition for the Border Patrol.

At the Border Security Expo in San Antonio, held last March, "domain awareness" tech was the hottest gear. With Trump's border wall now approaching $25 million a mile, Good said the mobile towers cost the government less than $1 million each.

More: https://news.wfsu.org/all-npr-news/2020-08-10/border-patrol-faulted-for-favoring-steel-and-concrete-wall-over-high-tech-solutions

[EdinVA]

Apples vs oranges.....

Walls are for prevention, technology is for detecting.....
It is like putting a camera at your front door with no lock to take a picture of the robbers as they carry out your stuff.

[Elderberry]

Apples vs oranges.....

Walls are for prevention, technology is for detecting.....
It is like putting a camera at your front door with no lock to take a picture of the robbers as they carry out your stuff.

Just like you have no technology in place to detect people cutting thru or climbing over the wall.

[skeeter]

Apples vs oranges.....

Walls are for prevention, technology is for detecting.....
It is like putting a camera at your front door with no lock to take a picture of the robbers as they carry out your stuff.

The writer gives away their bias as the article is posited as if walls are unnecessary because technology. Problem with technology is it’d be much easier for the next president to simply refuse to provide staffing required to make it affective. A wall at least stands there an an impediment and more importantly a reminder that there is a damn border.

Besides, I believe the barrier being created now employs much of the technology the writer recommends.

[LegalAmerican]

NPR by John Burnett 8/10/2020

Trump's massive border wall gets all the buzz.

But U.S. Customs and Border Protection is quietly testing a new generation of free-standing surveillance towers on the Arizona border that could revolutionize border security. The telescoping towers are equipped with infrared and daytime cameras, along with laser range-finders and illuminators that can zoom in on a target miles away for a close-up. They're mounted in the bed of a Ford F-150 pickup, so they're completely mobile and can be operated remotely.

They can tell an agent if an object moving north is a cow or a single migrant or a family.

"The camera sees something, it's going to alert and send that information to an agent in the field. So my iPhone will have an app on it and that information will come directly to me," said Kelly Good, deputy executive director of CBP's Program Management Office Directorate. He's in charge of technology acquisition for the Border Patrol.

At the Border Security Expo in San Antonio, held last March, "domain awareness" tech was the hottest gear. With Trump's border wall now approaching $25 million a mile, Good said the mobile towers cost the government less than $1 million each.

More: https://news.wfsu.org/all-npr-news/2020-08-10/border-patrol-faulted-for-favoring-steel-and-concrete-wall-over-high-tech-solutions

NOT TRUMP WALL.  NOT TRUMP VIRUS.   WALL FOR AMERICAS SAFETY.  STOPPING DRUGS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG WOMEN.    All wrong info.  The wall is what, patrol wanted and all the high tech....will still be implemented.  SO THIS IS A LYING LEFT, MAG.   WE WILL STILL HAVE HIGH TECH SOLUTIONS....WITH WALL. 
We already found a tunnel being dug...STOPPED. 

[LegalAmerican]

The writer gives away their bias as the article is posited as if walls are unnecessary because technology. Problem with technology is it’d be much easier for the next president to simply refuse to provide staffing required to make it affective. A wall at least stands there an an impediment and more importantly a reminder that there is a damn border.

Besides, I believe the barrier being created now employs much of the technology the writer recommends.

Right on and YES.  After wall is DONE...we will have high tech too, regarding the wall.  It has to be completed to 'run' lines, etc........

[Cyber Liberty]

A "tech fence" can be taken down in an instant, a physical barricade requires money and time to remove.  People instinctively know this.

NPR is FOS.

[PeteS in CA]

Apples vs oranges.....

Walls are for prevention, technology is for detecting.....
It is like putting a camera at your front door with no lock to take a picture of the robbers as they carry out your stuff.

Exactly. GWB and probably BHO deployed some tech stuff, but the bottom line was that there was no political will in DC to do with the stuff all that could be.

Further, this is a false choice. The answer to this "either-or" should be to have and use both!

[Cyber Liberty]

Apples vs oranges.....

Walls are for prevention, technology is for detecting.....
It is like putting a camera at your front door with no lock to take a picture of the robbers as they carry out your stuff.

[Fishrrman]

From the article:
"They can tell an agent if an object moving north is a cow or a single migrant or a family..."

I didn't read any further.
The object of a border barrier is not to distinguish from cows, single migrants, or families.

The object of a border barrier is TO STOP WHATEVER IT IS from crossing the line.

Pretty simple, doncha think?

Aside:
I was disappointed in the design of the barrier, as well.
I think it should have been MORE FORMIDABLE.
More formidable, as in "Israeli-style" -- solid concrete a few feet think and about 40 feet high.

[LegalAmerican]

From the article:
"They can tell an agent if an object moving north is a cow or a single migrant or a family..."

I didn't read any further.
The object of a border barrier is not to distinguish from cows, single migrants, or families.

The object of a border barrier is TO STOP WHATEVER IT IS from crossing the line.

Pretty simple, doncha think?

Aside:
I was disappointed in the design of the barrier, as well.
I think it should have been MORE FORMIDABLE.
More formidable, as in "Israeli-style" -- solid concrete a few feet think and about 40 feet high.

It is NOT yet completed.  More items will be implemented and used.  THE WALL IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION...NOT DONE.
The agents, WANTED to 'see" what they were dealing with.  YOU WANT A Great Wall OF CHINA.   Don't you know how much POTUS had to fight...just for this much?  Being sued,  hoax impeach?  Everybody has  the 'answer'.  Easy.

[roamer_1]

A "tech fence" can be taken down in an instant, a physical barricade requires money and time to remove.  People instinctively know this.

NPR is FOS.

And a pickup with a set of torches and a couple guys can make a hole in a steel bollard fence you could drive through in less than half an hour... Big concrete is one helluva lot harder to deal with... At least quietly.

[sneakypete]

Apples vs oranges.....

Walls are for prevention, technology is for detecting.....
It is like putting a camera at your front door with no lock to take a picture of the robbers as they carry out your stuff.

@EdinVA

I was trying to figure out a way to say what you said,and discovered you had already said it and done a better job of it than I would have.

[dancer]

From the article:
"They can tell an agent if an object moving north is a cow or a single migrant or a family..."

I didn't read any further.
The object of a border barrier is not to distinguish from cows, single migrants, or families.

The object of a border barrier is TO STOP WHATEVER IT IS from crossing the line.

Pretty simple, doncha think?

Aside:
I was disappointed in the design of the barrier, as well.
I think it should have been MORE FORMIDABLE.
More formidable, as in "Israeli-style" -- solid concrete a few feet think and about 40 feet high.

I live in the desert and see what the extreme heat and wind can do to concrete.  The taller the wall, the more it crumbles.

[EdinVA]

@EdinVA

I was trying to figure out a way to say what you said,and discovered you had already said it and done a better job of it than I would have.

[roamer_1]

I live in the desert and see what the extreme heat and wind can do to concrete.  The taller the wall, the more it crumbles.

Yeah well... 2 guys and an acetylene torch can blow a hole in a steel bollard wall you can drive a pickup through in about 15 minutes.

[Fishrrman]

dancer wrote:
"I live in the desert and see what the extreme heat and wind can do to concrete.  The taller the wall, the more it crumbles."

Then build it out of large granite blocks.
50 feet high and 10 feet thick!

[Smokin Joe]

dancer wrote:
"I live in the desert and see what the extreme heat and wind can do to concrete.  The taller the wall, the more it crumbles."

Then build it out of large granite blocks.
50 feet high and 10 feet thick!

Do you realize how many yuppie countertops that would take?

[jafo2010]

Tech is in no way equal to a good wall.  One can of spray paint renders that self propelled pickup useless.  And then we have an entire fleet of useless tech.  The wall stops folks....PERIOD!!!!

I am tired of the stupidity from Democommies!!!

[Smokin Joe]

Tech is in no way equal to a good wall.  One can of spray paint renders that self propelled pickup useless.  And then we have an entire fleet of useless tech.  The wall stops folks....PERIOD!!!!

I am tired of the stupidity from Democommies!!!

Not to mention that walls have existed for centuries in places. from stockaded native villages to virtually every city in the Middle East and Europe (and East Asia), to the barriers found around homes in the 'stans, and the Great Wall, all endure and serve even today to keep undesirable folks out, or in some cases, in.

A virtual wall can be shut down just by pulling the plug, computer virus, etc.

Use that tech to find problem spots along the physical barrier. That's what the tech is developed for, but the barrier must be in place.