Posted on 09/18/2018 11:13:19 AM PDT by reaganaut1
DEL RIO, Tex. — In this tiny town at the edge of South Texas brush country, a black steel fence runs along the Mexican border. About 15 feet high and topped by small metal spires that bend toward Mexico, it stretches west from a Border Patrol checkpoint for about a mile and a half. Then it stops.
Where the fence ends, a creek snakes off the Rio Grande, up through a private ranch where cattle wander between the mesquite trees. There, beside the creek gully, a small black cylinder sits atop a metal pole, looming over the small trees. It is a lidar sensor, the same laser-based technology that gives sight to self-driving cars. From its perch, it captures a three-dimensional image of anyone who walks into the area.
The sensor belongs to a Silicon Valley start-up called Quanergy, one of a number of tech start-ups trying to land business along the Mexican border. While President Trump still vows to build a physical border wall, these companies hope to help build a “virtual wall” that some policymakers believe would be more effective than miles of concrete and metal. A virtual wall would not offer a physical deterrence, but some people believe it would be cheaper to build and maintain.
“The only way to have operational control of the border is to look at all 2,000 miles of it at the same time,” said Representative Will Hurd, a Republican who represents Val Verde County, west of San Antonio. “And the only way to do that is through technology.”
Founded in 2012 and backed by more than $160 million in funding, Quanergy was one of the many lidar makers created amid a rush to develop driverless cars.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
W tried to sell us on the virtual wall scam.
The corrupt politicians simply turn it off.
Like that car that ran over and killed a woman? Or like Hastings’ BMW that was hacked?
No we need real people with real ammo on the wall. And real people monitoring them so they don’t fail at their duties.
Virtual can be turned off, ignored, or defunded.
I don’t think silicone would deter an invasion, kinda like having rocks and not throwing. The border would make a great military training grounds while getting a job done.
Having a “virtual” border wall is like the commercial where the bank has a security monitor. He dutifully informs the patrons that they are being robbed.
The tech can be everywhere, but the border patrol can’t. Need the wall to slow them up so the border patrol can be waiting for them.
I grew up in this town and there is a lake that is very easily crossed at night. You cannot build a fence over a lake.
We also used to own property along the Rio Grande, but sold it several years ago. As a kid we used to see illegals that had crossed over and they would run away after we would put a spotlight on them.
Times were different over 35 years ago.
But you still we need road access to the entire border.
W tried to sell us on the virtual wall scam.
—
I wonder if our dirtbag government would accept being paid taxes with “virtual money.”
I thought not...
Ah, the NYT dude-ranch reporting, designed to connect with all those fly-over Trump voters.
You can just picture New Yorkers on a subway reading this, imagining it in Hillary’s voice (assuming they’re noways tired from their 9-to-3 jobs):
“In this tiny town . . .”
“ . . . brush country . . “
“ . . . a creek snakes off the Rio Grande . . .”
“ . . . where cattle wander between the mesquite trees. . . .”
(— lonesome harmonica music courtesy of NYT.)
Nothing more is required than a bounty and an open season.
The technology available today is a great value (and getting better), but it cannot replace the other critical components of border control - infrastructure and people.
Sensors monitored by artificial intelligence can effectively monitor remote stretches of border, that new barriers and road can’t reach for years, if ever. They can dramatically improve the apprehension rate, and they can do it for about 1/1,000th the cost per mile of Trump-style infrastructure (top of the line barrier, all weather road, lights and cameras).
Even when we have excellent barriers and infrastructure, such technology will still make Border Patrol people much more effective. This technology can reliably detect and alert the Border Patrol, giving them earlier warning to respond, and improving tracking of illegals who jump the fence.
Unlike barrier, which is fixed in place, technology can cover a wide band of territory (monitoring miles into Mexico for early warning, and for miles into the USA for tracking/intercepting), and can be moved flexibly to hunt new smuggling routes.
People, Infrastructure and technology - we need all three if we want effective and efficient border control.
So what? LE justs gives the invaders drivers’ licenses and a Snap card and sends them on their way when they are caught.
“You cannot build a fence over a lake.”
Of course you can build a fence over a lake, it’s just much more economical to build the fence along the edge.
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