US scraps $20 million prototype of virtual fence

AP ^ | Apr 23 | ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN

[Aristotelian]

TUCSON, Ariz. - The government is scrapping a $20 million prototype of its highly touted "virtual fence" on the Arizona-Mexico border because the system is failing to adequately alert border patrol agents to illegal crossings, officials said.

The move comes just two months after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced his approval of the fence built by The Boeing Co. The fence consists of nine electronic surveillance towers along a 28-mile section of border southwest of Tucson.

Boeing is to replace the so-called Project 28 prototype with a series of towers equipped with communications systems, new cameras and new radar capability, officials said.

Less than a week after Chertoff accepted Project 28 on Feb. 22, the Government Accountability Office told Congress it "did not fully meet user needs and the project's design will not be used as the basis for future" developments.

A glaring shortcoming of the project was the time lag between the electronic detection of movement along the border and the transmission of a camera image to agents patrolling the area, the GAO reported.

Although the fence continues to operate, it hasn't come close to meeting the Border Patrol's goals, said Kelly Good, deputy director of the Secure Border Initiative program office in Washington.

"Probably not to the level that Border Patrol agents on the ground thought that they were going to get. So it didn't meet their expectations."

The Border Patrol had little input in designing the prototype but will have more say in the final version, officials said.

[Aristotelian]

This would be laughable if it weren't so serious.

[ovrtaxt]

Wow, good thing we had that NAFTA summit yesterday. Bush has a solution! /s

[trane250]

So much for high tech. Two heavy duty chain link fences topped with razor wire enclosing an electrified fence would do the trick. But the powers that be want the appearance of protecting the border but not actually protecting it.

[shove_it]

The White House changed the name of the meeting from the “Fourth SPP Annual Summit” to simply the “North American Leaders’ Summit.”

Source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61728

Didn't want to alarm those pesky “North American Union” conspiracy nuts.

[FastCoyote]

How many fools told not to worry, this was the way to go?

[shove_it]

“Virtual Fence” never sounded like an effective security measure to me ~ it may keep out virtual trespassers at best.

[jmaroneps37]

Wow! It doesn’t work? Now who would’ve thunk that?

[Cvengr]

Friendo, if you placed two chain link fences on the border, scrapers, many of them from the US, would steal the fence within 6 months; Electrify it and they would steal the copper and transformers in three.

[Thermalseeker]

Electrify it and they would steal the copper and transformers in three.

SNORT! That's exactly what one of the dumb masses thought a while back here in SE Tennessee when he tried to steal what he thought was copper out of a substation. All they found was a burnt spot on the ground, vaguely resembling the outline of his body, and his shoes.

Anything over about 480v could not be dismantled when it is energized unless the thieves were very well trained and equipped.....

[Cvengr]

Many of the electricians on the border are Mexican. Copper theft is a very prolific business along the border. Chandler Arizona has been receiving reports of over $1,000 of copper theft per week from city properties since 2004 and has lost over 3 miles of street lights from the thefts.

If your lights and computer screen goes blank, it might be due to copper thieves on the other side of the wall who have been watching your circuits, have finally decided to act.

[gridlock]

TUCSON, Ariz. - The government is scrapping a $20 million prototype of its highly touted "virtual fence" on the Arizona-Mexico border because the system is failing to adequately alert border patrol agents to illegal crossings, officials said.

The problem with any system that relies on prompt human response is that unless it applies an electrical charge to the donut box, it is going to be ignored.

A wall is passive. A fence is passive. A virtual fence that does not have prompt response is nothing.

Now, if they wanted to field an automated system that would deploy weapons and did not require prompt human response, I guess we could talk. But I don't think that is going to happen, do you?

[Peet]

*chuckle*

The Border Patrol had little input in designing the prototype but will have more say in the final version, officials said.

I used to work for people just like this, albeit in the computer/IS business. All their software was cr@p because they refused to ask the end-user what they wanted.

The fence will never work with gumbys like this in charge. (I know; they don't want it to work.)

Pe(been-there-done-that)et

[Cvengr]

Besides, the Mexicans keep taking off their collars before they cross the border.....

[Thermalseeker]

Many of the electricians on the border are Mexican. Copper theft is a very prolific business along the border.

Tell you what, you let me charge a section of fence with say, 10,000 volts. Then, I'd like a demonstration of how you go about stealing the wire that is energized......

[Cvengr]

Charge it to 34.5kV and they’ll steal the neutral without loss of service.