CBP to spend $750M on Arizona border technologies

New strategy calls for $242 million in fiscal 2012

By Alice Lipowicz
Feb 17, 2011

The Homeland Security Department is focusing first on the Arizona-Mexico border with its new strategy for southwestern border security and plans to spend roughly $750 million to acquire technologies for that segment of the border, a senior official said today.

There is approximately $185 million available in the current fiscal year, and $242 million requested for fiscal 2012, to pay for integrated fixed towers, remote video cameras, hand-held devices, mobile systems and other technologies in Arizona, Mark Borkowski, assistant commissioner of Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Technology Innovation and Acquisition, said. The office held an Industry Day for vendors today in Arizona.

The new systems will cover the 370-mile Arizona border, with the exception of the 53 miles already covered by the SBInet “Block 1â€