Thread: AZ-New Cutting Edge Border Patrol Technology

New Cutting Edge Border Patrol Technology

Posted: Aug 1, 2009 05:51 PM CDT

Updated: Aug 1, 2009 05:51 PM CDT





Reported By: Rob Hughes (rhughes@kswt.com)

Yuma, AZ- August 1st- New Border Patrol technology is helping to keep our borders and agents safe.

"It's the right combination of technology, manpower, and infrastructure," says Border Patrol Supervisory Agent Stephen Potter with the Yuma Sector.

The $750,000 dollar Mobile Surveillance System---or "MSS" is a truck with a ground radar system paired with a thermal and day camera to allow agents to identify and track multiple targets up to eight miles away.

"The technology offers benefits over a lot of the existing scope and infra-red day camera technology, because the information you get from the radar; it supplies the operator with gps coordinates of the targets he's tracking," says Potter.

Potter says the MSS has big advantages over permanent infrastructures in Yuma because it can shift around to address emerging illegal traffic and drug smuggling trends.

"It's a self-contained unit; so the operator is sitting in the truck, gets the information from the radar, overlayed on a map, and he also has basically the view from his cameras to identify the radar contact; but that information doesn't get shipped anywhere else as of yet," says Potter.

Potter say the MSS is based on movement and allows the operator to relay information to ground agents 24/7 that could save their life.

"Radar technology sends out a radio wave that bounces off a target, and the antenna on the radar allows you to see movement; so moving objects get tracked by the radar," says Potter.

Potter says the flexible technology also frees up agents while allowing faster, more rapid response from agents on the ground.

"A system like this that allows a single agent to cover a large piece of real-estate, it acts as a force multiplier, leaving more agents to respond to traffic," says Potter.

Agents say the MSS technology is being adopted by Border Patrol sectors nationwide.


http://www.kswt.com/Global/story.asp?S= ... enu613_2_8

This is excellant but we still need more boots on the ground.

Actually they have been using this for quite some time now, it's not really all that new.

Rebelrouser wrote:

This is excellant but we still need more boots on the ground.

And double-layered fencing!