Feed: Breaking: Napolitano cancels border virtual fence project - AggScore: 13.0

Breaking: Napolitano cancels border virtual fence project

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caption id alignalignleft width111 caption Border agents will have to use oldfashion police techniques to secure the US, while the government spends money to protect borders in other nations. Photo CBPimg srchttpcdn2b.examiner.comsitesdefaultfilesstyleslargehash043dborder20patrol.jpg alt width111 height120 captionFriday is traditionally the day on which bad news or politically harmful information is released by denizens of the nations capital, and January 14 is no different Secretary of Homeland Security JanetNapolitanos office announced that the Obama administrationcanceledthe Virtual Fence project along the U.S.Mexico border.The reason for this latest cancellation is the continued technical equipmentproblemsand the rising costs of constructing and installing the components including closedcircuit TV cameras and monitors,electronic detectors, and other security measures.As reported by the Law Enforcement Examiner, the original border security plan called for a fence and barriers tobe usedon parts of the U.S.s southern border, but with the Democrats controlling both houses of Congress and the Bush Administration being weak on border security, the plan switched from a real fence to a virtual fence using hightech equipment.Unfortunately, the Department of Homeland Securitys latest failure to protect the United State,was acostly program to place crucial electronic surveillance systems along the U.S.Mexico border thatis years behind schedule.The security projectisgrossly over budget becauseSecretary Janet Napolitanosagency hasnt adequately managed the contractor doing the work, according to a Washington, DC watchdog group.As a result, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars will be wasted and the porous southern border will continue to be vulnerable despite the Obama Administrations assurances that its as secure as its ever been. So far the troubled project, known as Secure Border Initiative Network, has cost the government 672 million although its nowhere near completion, according toJudicial Watch, a publicinterest group that investigates political corruption.After years of debates, congressional votes, government studies and political posturing by lawmakers, the socalled virtual fence continues to cause more problems than it solves, according to testimony at a session of the House Homeland Security Committee.In a compromise that met with disappointment by those who advocate tighter border security, instead of walls or chain link fencing, the U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Department created the concept of virtual fence security that includes surveillance cameras, motion or heat sensing detectors, radar, and supposed stateoftheart control towers designed to detect and prevent illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the United States.According to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police, the security contractor Boeing Co. is installing the hitech physical security system. The original plan called for a completion date by December 2009 at a cost of 1.1 billion for avirtual fence. According to the report obtained by NACOP, Boeing requested that completion date to be amended by seven years.Physical security experts told this writer it should surprise no one that a relatively simple project would become complicated and unmanageable given that fact that most of the decisionmakers probably have no law enforcement, security or engineering background.The Obamainitiative aims to enhance border security by designing technological tools that enable Border Patrol agents to detect and respond to incursions along unmanned stretches of the 2,000mile Mexican border. This includes installing unattended ground sensors, radars and cameras. The socalled virtual fence was supposed to be completed by 2011, but Homeland Security officials recently pushed the date up to 2014, well after Obamas 2012 reelection campaign.Thats because the agency has failed to properly oversee the projects prime contractor, resulting in costly rework, numerous delays and lots of extra money. In fact Homeland Security officials stood by as the contractor provided information that was replete with unexplained anomalies, thus rendering the data unfit for effective contractor management and oversight, congressional investigators found.The initiative to erect barriers both electronic and physical along the U.S. Mexico border has been plagued with a multitude of problems since it was implemented under the George W. Bush Administration. After funding issues got largely settled, some border mayors in Texas blocked the feds from conducting fence work on city property, a large Indian tribe Tohono Oodham in Arizona refused to allow a fence to be erected along a vulnerable stretch of border and the socalled virtual fence project has been delayed several times.Last year a separate GAO report revealed that the physical fencewas costing U.S. taxpayers an average of nearly 4 million per mile. The per mile costs vary considerably depending on the type of fencing, topography, materials, labor costs and the price of land acquisition, but investigators determined that serious cost overruns have led to the exorbitant average figure.