Anyone up for a little border voyeurism?
posted at 8:02 am on November 21, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Glenn Reynolds’ Army of Davids concept has a new version: a Border Patrol of Davids. Think of it as a virtual neighborhood watch, in which the state of Texas pays for its border control with advertising on a site that allows volunteers to stare into space, hoping to catch an illegal border crosser with a laptop:
Anyone, anywhere with a computer and a desire to protect the U.S.-Mexico border – or be a bit of a voyeur – can now get online and become a “Virtual Texas Deputy” by watching live streaming footage of the borderland.
The Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition and the social network BlueServo.net on Thursday launched the Internet border surveillance program that Gov. Rick Perry has been trying to get off the ground since 2006. …
In addition to advertisements, Virtual Texas Deputies will be able to view live footage from at least 10 cameras along the border. Reay said the number and locations of the cameras were being kept secret for security reasons.
When a virtual deputy spots suspicious activity, he or she can send an e-mail with the information.
Those hoping for voyeuristic thrills on this site will likely either experience crushing disappointment or have a low bar for excitement in the first place. Besides, this promises at least the chance for interactivity. If something suspicious is seen, the Virtual Texas Deputy can intervene by sending the tip and presumably catch the border crosser. It may not have the immediacy of Grand Theft Auto, but it actually accomplishes something for those who care about border security.
Unfortunately, the concept may not be ending at the border:
And with $2 million in grant money from Perry and what BlueServo hopes is a high volume of Web hits that generate advertising dollars, the company also has aims to expand the program beyond the border to create a virtual neighborhood watch social network.
An Army of Big Brothers? The border-watch program has a specific purpose, one that doesn’t overlap into surveillance of American populations. The virtual neighborhood-watch system sounds like a new twist on the British impulse to have surveillance cameras aimed at every inch of public space, only in this system everyone can watch everyone … and probably will, at least while the novelty lasts.
I doubt either program will be effective, even in the short run during the novelty period. The opportunities for mischief are too great, and the resources for rapid response too small. Neighborhood watches work because the neighbors have a deep investment in the small area in which they surveil and a close relationship with law enforcement. That won’t exist in either of these two systems, which will likely consign them to voyeur status after all.
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If these things are even the least bit successful, Mexican drug lords will just bombard the site with false reports until it becomes impossible for the Border Patrol to respond to any reports.
FuriousAmerican on November 21, 2008 at 8:11 AM
Oh, I don’t know, Ed. The redneck baby boomers need something to do in retirement. I could easily see this catching on with the Minutemen types.
GoHskrs on November 21, 2008 at 8:11 AM
(tongue firmly implanted in cheek)They’d save a lot of dough if they’d just pay somebody to Google Earth the border.
Chewy the Lab on November 21, 2008 at 8:16 AM
Not a bad idea,if it becomes successful,how
about expanding the program to Iraq/Iran
border!
And throw in a predator with Hellfires,and
the most goons taken out through the week
gets you a shot at winning an I-Pod!
(Snark!).
canopfor on November 21, 2008 at 8:17 AM
do ya get a badge
rico101 on November 21, 2008 at 8:18 AM
Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!
lodge on November 21, 2008 at 8:21 AM
was that McCain who was boosting guys over the fence on his shoulders?
marklmail on November 21, 2008 at 8:23 AM
what about a gun
rico101 on November 21, 2008 at 8:24 AM
I can imagine every jack-rabbit being reported…every bush moving in the wind…what a farce…
right2bright on November 21, 2008 at 8:25 AM
lodge on November 21, 2008 at 8:21 AM
Nothing like a classic movie refrence early in the morning. LMAO
akoilfieldtrash on November 21, 2008 at 8:26 AM
Beat me to it!
what about a gun
rico101 on November 21, 2008 at 8:24 AM
Already got me a gun, livin in the midwest and all…
loudmouth883 on November 21, 2008 at 8:28 AM
I dunno…after watching for a while, I caught THIS ONE speeding for the border…
JetBoy on November 21, 2008 at 8:34 AM
What’s to stop open borders activists from spamming the agency with so many emails that it overwhelms the system? Much better to hire some reliable people to do this, such as housewives who track Islamic websites. Maybe give them a share of advertising revenues. Although, as you say, by the time the border police respond, it will probably be too late anyway.
As for the neighborhood watch, it does indeed have a Big Brother aspect to it but I don’t know that I would call it voyeurism.
Buy Danish on November 21, 2008 at 8:35 AM
LOL!
Karen_VA on November 21, 2008 at 8:46 AM
Who would want to watch Americans leaving the Obaminati n for Mexico, hoping for jobs?
A more sound economy, less corruption, lower business taxes. Yo quiero Taco Bell trabajo.
Right_of_Attila on November 21, 2008 at 8:47 AM
Yes ED, an army of big brothers. Watching public space. Which everyone can watch anyway. No privacy in public. Imagine that. HITLER IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Darth Executor on November 21, 2008 at 8:48 AM
If an illegal paints himself with Photoblocker paint, does he look like the Predator when he moves?
Bicyea on November 21, 2008 at 9:06 AM
Regarding the “red necked Minutemen type” comment. I AM a member of said group, and I am not a red neck… that said, this isn’t a good idea for so many reasons. Just a few…. the ability to corrupt the system through hacking and false reports.. as stated earlier. Also, no body knows what they’re trying to look for. You think you know an illegal… but a fuzzy video image on a myriad of different quality systems at homes far away?…. this sounds like Band Aid quality solutions….. AGAIN. Build the fricken fence, nimrods!!
MNDavenotPC on November 21, 2008 at 9:10 AM
Why is it every time I watch these kinds of things, I get the voice of Speedy Gonzales permeating my brain for the rest of the day?
Undalay! Undalay! Eeehah!
ErinF on November 21, 2008 at 9:21 AM
The purpose of these systems is not for people to watch hoping to catch someone, it is to inform the would-be criminal that someone might be watching.
The fact that they are being monitored by not only law enforcement, but everyone, makes it less Big Brother and more neighborhood watch.
I’m all for it. At least it’s something.
Kafir on November 21, 2008 at 9:40 AM
I am the virtual fence.
James on November 21, 2008 at 9:43 AM
Why is it when things like this come up, someone always has to start with this “Big Brother” crap.
Video cameras outside, looking down at the population. Gee, what a horrible crime. Here’s a clue, don’t do anything illegal and you won’t have to worry.
And just because something’s not perfect, someone wants to ditch it. With no solution. They just know “this” isn’t good enough.
God. I say we close the borders period, and anything that goes towards that goal is just fine and dandy with me. I’m tired of supporting moochers with my hard earned tax dollars.
SuperManGreenLantern on November 21, 2008 at 9:43 AM
Seriously, wouldn’t the money be better spent pointing cameras on those businesses that donated money to help stop that gay marriage thing in CA? Better to watch and identify those eeevil hate-monger right wingers than someone who illegally crossed the border of the US to do God knows what.
/sarcasm
Bicyea on November 21, 2008 at 10:13 AM
There was a video floating around the net a while ago of thermal imagery of a couple gettin’ it on in a convertible somewhere near the border; a friend of mine in the Corps who did some covert surveillance on the military/law enforcement JTF recalls passing the time in a similar manner…they didn’t catch any drug smugglers but they certainly got to see some spicy encounters.
Unless you wanna be watched by a bunch of bored Marines or USBP agents, recommend you keep your activities indoors behind closed curtains…
quikstrike98 on November 21, 2008 at 10:14 AM
I did not know that illegal border crossers carried laptops. Arrest them for smuggling.
Johan Klaus on November 21, 2008 at 10:15 AM
I worked with a Hispanic ex-Navy man who became a Border Patrolman. He told me how things really went at the El Paso border. A railroad bridge (the “black bridge”) crosses into the U.S.A South West of downtown. He and his partner would be in their patrol car on the U.S. side and would see more and more illegal aliens (not ‘undocumented immigrants”) gathering on the Mexican side of the border.
***
Finally hundreds of them would run over the bridge and start throwing large rocks at the patrolmen–who hid behind their cars and could not shoot or nightstick the aliens. They would have all windows smashed out of their car, and would grab two of the aliens, stuff them in their car, and would take them to the holding facility. The hundreds of other aliens would disappear into El Paso near U.T.E.P.–a good place to rob students / take their cars.
***
I don’t think watching this on T.V. or on your computer and phoning ICE (the new Border Patrol) is going to help much. Agents on the scene can barely help. BUILD THE BORDER FENCE–A REAL ONE! Give ICE some real help.
John Bibb
rocketman on November 21, 2008 at 10:24 AM
If it ain’t hooked up to robotic twin .50s, why bother?
gridlock2 on November 21, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Good point. There might be ways around that, but you might also get the problem of crossers using it as a free form organization tool–if you see a group crossing, you know resources will be tied up catching them, so it would be a good time to cross somewhere else.
On the other hand, just having the stream people out there where everyone can see might get more Americans involved.
Count to 10 on November 21, 2008 at 10:31 AM
No flash. He’s just sparckly.
Count to 10 on November 21, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Good idea, but let’s require that at least five more persons agree that the target is a clear and present danger before allowing fire.
Same thing with predators equipped with SDBs (Small diameter bombs)
El Coqui on November 21, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Can we plunk one of these near Halle Berry’s pool…just in case any criminaliens decide to go for a dip.
Alden Pyle on November 21, 2008 at 11:28 AM
Combine this with a remote-controlled deer rifle and I think it might catch on. Get rid of he advertising and charge a buck a shot. EEEEEHAAAA!
n0doz on November 21, 2008 at 11:58 AM
“Do you like to watch?”
No Chance/Chauncey, I don’t, but it’s in my face 24/7 so, I don’t need no steenking cameras, I can watch the Invasion from my kitchen window.
Two desperate Mexican guys have shown up at our doorstep looking begging for work in the past month. ‘No trabajo, lo siento.’
Christine on November 21, 2008 at 12:06 PM
This will only work if it’s done in conjunction with Live-Shot.com
Zaire67 on November 21, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Build our military installations, state & federal pens on the border, that will solve the problem. What illegal in his/her right mind wants to run past thousands of armed servicemen/women and prison guards?
Biffstir on November 21, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Has anyone asked Chuck Norris for some help with the border? You KNOW he’d be RHK’ing these suckers back to Nicaragua!
Biffstir on November 21, 2008 at 12:33 PM
It’s a start.
PappaMac on November 21, 2008 at 12:39 PM
I heard that!
TheSitRep on November 21, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Who the heck goes by the name of Bert Convy at YahooBuzz and changed the title of this thread to “You too can help stop illegal effing alians.”
This is not helpful, “Bert.” And you misspelled “aliens.”
Connie on November 21, 2008 at 1:06 PM
10 cameras?
10 drops, meet ocean. (BTW, that’s $200,000 per drop.)
Call me when they live feed from predator drones on the border.
TexasDan on November 21, 2008 at 1:24 PM
FAILIANS.
TexasDan on November 21, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Solution:
-Give the Border Patrol Agents the tools to do their job.
Electric Fence, maybe?
-Tell the governors in Kalifornia, New Jersey, New York that are begging for money from the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT to pack sand until they do something about their illegal alien problem. Allow their law enforcement officers to do their jobs and deport people that shouldn’t be in our country. I DON’T GIVE A FIG IF SOME ILLEGAL ALIEN IS AFRAID TO REPORT A CRIME BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID OF THE POLICE. THEY SHOULD BE AFRAID BECAUSE THEY ARE BREAKING THE LAW! THEY CAN REPORT THE CRIME BACK IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY.
-Correct the bastardization of the fourteenth amendment. I am tired of paying for the kiddies of illegal aliens. It is a v-gina, not a Pez dispenser.
-Go after the illegal alien employers, if you don’t use E-Verify, you KNEW you may have illegal aliens. Fine by the illegal and put them in jail by the illegal. Also, as citizens, boycott those industries that employ and cater to illegal aliens and patronize those that DON’T!
-I know this is a moot point since the messiah is going to turn our country into a third world cesspool.
“We can’t let a crisis go to waste…”
Rahm “steakknife” Emmanual.
HornetSting on November 21, 2008 at 1:52 PM
~Ernie
BKennedy on November 21, 2008 at 2:18 PM
Wow, the voice of the deathlessly young and hip, emanating from…..Nebraska
warbaby on November 21, 2008 at 4:40 PM
This crap will continue until we deploy the military at the border. We are not being protected from foreign enemies. It’s funny how the West was won with a series of FORTS. It’s a 3000 km border and we should have a military fort every 100 km. The military could shut it down in a month. As we leave Iraq we can deploy on our border. The ancient Chinese did it. We can do it.
Mojave Mark on November 21, 2008 at 8:09 PM
So what’s the operational life of these cameras? I’ll take the over/under at 48 hours.
eeyore on November 21, 2008 at 8:23 PM
Ditto. Even here in Delaware.
davidk on November 21, 2008 at 9:18 PM
How much is that in real measurement?
davidk on November 21, 2008 at 9:20 PM
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