Tucson Region
High-tech border towers' launch delayed
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.16.2007

Nine high-tech towers that form the backbone of the Department of Homeland Security's latest "virtual wall" test program in the desert southwest of Tucson are up, but their launch has been delayed.
The 98-foot towers — equipped with cameras, radars and sensors in a 28-mile area flanking Sasabe as part of the SBInet Project 28 — were originally scheduled to become operational Wednesday. But that start date has been pushed back, said Xavier Rios, a Border Patrol spokesman.

The Boeing Co., which is being paid $20 million to administer the pilot project, is testing the towers and training agents in preparation for a system launch in the coming weeks, Rios said. No date has been set.
Homeland Security officials say the system will increase detections and slow illegal border crossings in the nation's busiest corridor. The towers will send surveillance information to command centers and agents' vehicles equipped with special laptop computers.

Residents in Arivaca have protested the towers, calling them eyesores that will blemish the area and infringe on their freedom and privacy while having no impact on illegal entries.

The locations of the nine towers were chosen to ensure that the radars, sensors and cameras will be able to monitor the entire 28-mile stretch that flanks Sasabe.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/border/187780