Patrolling the US Border Via Webcam 249
The BBC features a story today on a controversial effort to patrol the border between Mexico and Texas by means of 21 hidden cameras, the output of which is streamed online for viewers at home, who can then report suspected illegal border crossings; more than 130,000 people have registered to observe the streams, from as far afield as "Australia, Mexico, Colombia, Israel, New Zealand and the UK."
Hidden? (Score:4, Informative)
There is a fairly straightforward way to locate the cameras if you have a bit more time than me. Using the time of the sunrise and sunset (and the length of the day), you should be able to get a decent fix on the location (people use the same technique on whales and sea turtles.)
Re:When in Rome... (Score:4, Informative)
Using the army might work in times of peace, but at present the army is stretched thin by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. I doubt that they have personnel to spare. The Roman troops along Hadrian's Wall mostly stayed in the milecastles and the towers on either side. Intensive patrolling was not their strategy. Hadrian's Wall was only 73.5 miles long. The US border with Mexico is 1,969 miles long. To staff it the way the Romans staffed Hadrian's wall would require approximately 50,000 troops.
Re:When in Rome... (Score:3, Informative)
That's actually quite practical, especially with UAVs and manned surveillance posts, but there is little political support in Washington for effective border control.
It's easy to build small operating bases, easy to stage patrols to monitor what sensor and cameras detect, and while it would not halt border crossings it would reduce them to a more reasonable level.
What isn't easy is doing this when Mexico objects (failed narcostate that it is, every dime sent from Yanquiland is welcome) and when Mexicans in the US (who have zero logical interest in border security and everything to gain from lack of it) vote and protest against it.
Re:What is this crap (Score:5, Informative)
There is an option for citizens who want to be good guys and snitch on companies who employ illegals and are thus tax cheats.
You can turn in illegals, punish employers who exploit both them and Americans who need jobs, and make a profit.
http://www.taxwhistleblowers.org/main/page.php?page_id=2 [taxwhistleblowers.org]
"Amount of Form 211 Reward
Rewards range from 1% to 15% of amounts collected (including taxes, fines, and penalties, but not interest) up to a maximum of $10 million."
Re:When in Rome... (Score:3, Informative)
If they've got the vote, they are no longer "Mexicans". They are Americans.
Re:other uses? (Score:3, Informative)
I think you misunderstand my suggestion. I'm not suggesting this for the small number of cases where the location of the threatened person is secret. Clearly you don't want to do this if the witness is being kept in a safe house or other secret location. However, most witnesses, even those who are at risk, are not housed in safe houses. It is way too expensive to do this other than for very important witnesses or those who are under a very serious threat. Similarly, women at risk from abusive ex-partners or stalkers mostly live at home, in locations known to the men by whom they are threatened or that can easily enough be determined. The webcam wouldn't disclose anything the potential attacker didn't know.
Re:Mexico? (Score:5, Informative)
So that's why the US is one of the few nations not to ratify the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Treaty)..
Re:Mexico? (Score:3, Informative)
I heard one simple idea that probably would solve the illegal border crossing problem: landmines.
And when dozens of cattle and feral horses are left maimed or dead, we'll just say "serves those stupid animals right! They should learn to read!" What, you didn't realize there is a significant amount of non-human traffic in those areas?
Or, for that matter, how desperate some people are when they're trying to escape severe poverty or starvation? Or do you just not care? A rudimentary knowledge of fairly recent history would have told you land mines don't deter the very poor from attempting to use land - they just send people out into the fields/paddies with poles in an attempt to blow up any mines before planting their rice (yes, we're talking about a country in southeast Asia). If mines didn't stop them from entering land they'd use multiple times, it's not likely to stop illegal aliens from attempting a one-time crossing.
The person who modded me "Funny" had the right idea.
Re:What the fuck does this mean? (Score:2, Informative)
I was with you on the first sentence. But there's a problem with the Berlin Wall analogy: the Berlin Wall was designed to keep people in, whereas the US border controls are designed to keep people out.
Redundant (Score:3, Informative)
http://news.slashdot.org/story/06/06/02/1250244/Texas-to-Provide-Online-Bordercams?art_pos=4 [slashdot.org]
Dr_Barnowl writes
"The BBC reports that Texas intends to erect a network of online webcams at its border to Mexico. [bbc.co.uk] The intention is apparently to use viewers as a kind of distributed processing network, with a free phone number to report border-jumpers."
From the article:
"'A stronger border is what Americans want and it's what our security demands and that is what Texas is going to deliver,' Mr Perry said. The cameras will cost $5m (£2.7m) to install and will be trained on sections of the 1,000-mile (1,600km) border known to be favoured by illegal immigrants "
Hey, it's working for Britain, right?
Re:Why guard the border at all? (Score:3, Informative)
There really isn't much barrier for someone to come here legally.
Trust me as someone who has researched the options - US is actually one of the hardest countries to immigrate to, at least in First World. If you want to see what "really isn't much barrier" is like, look at Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or Ireland. Even then, a degree is essentially a must (sometimes, you can get away without it, but you need lots and lots of work experience in a field that's on priority lists).