Northern Border Security Goes High Tech

March 24, 2011 - 10:44 AM | by: Marla Cichowski


SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE – The U.S .Department of Homeland Security unveiled its newest high-tech tool today to fight terrorism and secure America’s northern border.

The Operational Integration Center, referred to as OIC, allows security analysts to monitor a critical part of the Northern border 24/7 relying on cameras and radars along the St. Clair River separating Michigan from Canada.

The $12 million OIC facility features a 30 foot video panel to watch various sections of the Northern border. Real time video feeds into the OIC’s situational awareness room from 11 towers equipped with high-tech cameras and radars built along 35 miles of the St. Clair River.

The towers are the result of a $20 million investment in technology as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s Secure Border Initiative.

U.S. Border Patrol’s Special Operations Supervisor, Gregory Lambert managed the 13-month surveillance tower project. He says the technology is already paying off.

“Instead of having a camera and operator looking at a screen all day for eight hours, now we have a radar working with the cameras to tell that operator, ‘Hey. There’s something going on over here,â€