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Vancouver Sun
John Bates (above, left) of the U.S.
Border Patrol is shown in the Blaine control centre where new
$50-million US camera patrol system is monitored. Greg Faubion
and Kimberly Kaya, both Law Enforcement Communications
Assistants, are at the computer controls. |
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Vancouver Sun
Bates walks along Jerome Street in
Blaine, where dual cameras on a pole watch the
border. |
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The U.S. Border Patrol has installed 64 remote-controlled video
cameras along the western end of the Canada-U.S. border.
The cameras, atop metal poles on U.S. soil, are monitoring a
70-kilometre stretch of the international boundary from the Columbia
Valley south of Abbotsford to the Douglas border crossing at south
Surrey and Blaine, Wash.
U.S. authorities already have weight-and-motion-sensitive sensors
that alert border agents when someone or something moves through one
of the farm fields or ditches that run along the 49th parallel,
which used to be known as the world's longest undefended border.
But, before the cameras, U.S. Border Patrol deputy chief John
Bates said agents didn't immediately know whether the sensors were
detecting a smuggler or a deer.
Now, staff who monitor camera-captured images can aim as many as
two cameras on any one area, to try to find out what tripped a
sensor. If they see something suspicious, a border agent has some
forewarning of a potential danger before rushing off to
investigate.
"For instance, if a farmer was plowing his field and he got very
close to the sensor, we could tell [the border agent] you don't need
to respond," Bates said Wednesday in an interview. "Or we could have
a heavy rainstorm that causes a stream to overflow its banks, which
can make a [light beam-based motion] sensor false, because it
thought that some person broke the beam when in fact it was
water.
"On the other hand, we might see six or seven individuals cross
and we'd be able to tell the agent what he's looking for."
The cameras capture colour images, so staff looking at the
monitors can see the colour of a suspect vehicle and relay a
description to the border agent, who otherwise might pass the
vehicle on his way to the scene. Each of the 18-metre-high poles is
topped with two cameras: a regular camera for use in daylight and an
infra-red camera for night. The cameras can pan the landscape or
zoom in on one area, to get an image of a person or car from as far
away as five kilometres.
"Even if we had agents out there at night, they might not be able
to see that in the dark," he said.
The U.S. government began installing its $50-million US
surveillance system last September, before Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.
Bates said there are similar cameras along the U.S.-Mexico
border, but the cameras here are the first major surveillance
systems along the U.S.-Canada border.
The cameras are already paying for themselves. Bates said they
have been successfully used to stop marijuana smugglers, as well as
northbound and southbound aliens, as recently as last weekend.
Each year, about 1,000 illegal aliens are captured along that
stretch of the border. Bates said it used to be impossible to
estimate how many more people eluded authorities and crossed the
border illegally, but he's hoping the cameras will give the U.S.
Border Patrol a better idea.
In contrast to Canadian officials at borders and airports -- who
often say they can't discuss security measures -- Bates isn't shy
about letting the public know about the cameras.
"Part of our job is to deter illegal entry," he said.
Bates also said the cameras will benefit both countries, because
he said U.S. authorities are sharing their information with Canadian
authorities to stop things like weapons and drug smuggling.
"We look at this border as a two-way street," he said.
Meanwhile, two customs inspectors from Canada have quietly begun
working in the United States, screening northbound cargo for
contraband or potential security threats.
Canada Customs inspectors stationed last week in Newark, N.J.,
and Seattle are "pre-screening" some of the 200,000 marine cargo
containers on their way to Canada each year.
In Newark, the Canadian inspectors sit at computer terminals and
examine ship manifests and customs declaration forms, using
electronic intelligence and law enforcement databases to help them
spot suspicious containers.
"Anything that we recognize that looks out of the ordinary, we
will investigate further," said Michel Proulx, a Canada Customs
spokesman.
"If someone did send us a nuclear bomb, it's better to catch it
right away at the point of entry than let it take six days as it
moves across the continent."
The two inspectors based in Newark seek anomalies that might make
a container suspicious, including paperwork marred by errors,
shipping routes that make little sense, and computer "hits" showing
that a vessel or its captain has previously been involved in
smuggling.
In October, Italian officials found a suspected al-Qaida
operative locked inside a marine container bound for Canada. Inside
the container, authorities found a bed, a makeshift bathroom,
airport maps and security passes, and an airplane mechanic's
certificate.
The unarmed Canada Customs inspectors in Newark won't conduct any
searches, Proulx said. If a Canada-bound container draws their
attention, he said, they will ask their U.S. counterparts to search
it.
Inspected containers that have been cleared are sealed and then
sent to Canada.
Newark was selected because it is the eastern U.S. port that
ships the largest volume of containers onward to Canada, he
said.
"We are neighbours," Proulx said. "We have to work together. We
are looking at this as a joint initiative to ensure security on the
North American perimeter."
The posting of the Canada Customs inspectors in Newark has
created some unease among Canadians worried about their country's
close relationship with the U.S. becoming too close.
"I think over all there's a feeling of angst," said Allen Sens, a
professor at the University of British Columbia.
"To the extent that there's more and more encroachment, I think
there will be growing concerns as to just how sovereign Canada
really is."
gbohn@pacpress.southam.ca
