American Patrol Report© Archives

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Arizona Border Plan Pullback
New technology put on hold

American Patrol Report -- November 8

Ill-fated Boeing border tower

    Arizona border security was once again placed in the limelight when the Department of Homeland Security decided to delay award of a contract for what it called the Integrated Fixed Towers project --- or IFT.
    The IFT project was to be a follow-on to the SBInet project which saw $1 billion wasted on a failed program.
    The decision to postpone award of the contract, estimated to be worth about $125 million, followed on the heals of a Government Accountability Office report that was critical of DHS management.
    The title of GAO's report

says it all.
    "Delaying proposed investments for future acquisitions of border surveillance technology until the Department of Homeland Security better defines and measures benefits and estimates life-cycle costs could help ensure the most effective use of future program funding."
    Apparently DHS decided to heed GAO's warning and put off awarding the contract until it could better define benefits and costs.
    The American Patrol Report has long criticized DHS for not defining what border security means and then developing a system for achieving it.

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Past Features

Dave Gibson -- The Examiner
Facts do not support official story in Border Patrol agent's killing

On Wednesday, the Pima County Medical Examiner's office released the autopsy report for U.S. Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie, who was killed last month near Naco, Arizona. -- In the report, Pima County Forensic Pathologist Cynthia Porterfield stated that Ivie died from "a penetrating gunshot wound of the head," and that a "small caliber copper jacketed projectile" was recovered from his brain...

Reuters
Border Patrol agent killed by friendly fire was shot in head

A U.S. Border Patrol agent killed in an apparent friendly fire incident near the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona last month died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to an autopsy report released on Wednesday. -- Nicholas Ivie, 30, was fatally shot and another agent was wounded in a burst of gunfire in early October as they went to check a tripped ground sensor in the desert near the border town of Naco...

American Patrol Report
Sonic Barrier draws interest
Following a successful debut at a recent border tech expo, the Sonic Barrier (marketed by its inventor, Border Technology, Inc. as IDENTISEIS®) has been receiving added attention. -- In one instance, a Bulgarian company actually developed a proposal to use the system – even without BTI’s involvement...

Defense News
India's $2B Border Solution: Satellites, gear and sensors
New Delhi -- India plans to build a Border Space Command as part of a larger effort to manage the country's more than 15,000-kilometer border with China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar, according to an Indian Defence Ministry source. -- After concluding that fencing, unattended ground sensors and other gadgets are not sufficient to monitor the country's porous border, the Indian Home Ministry will build...