Virtual BorderWatch...You too can help keep an eye on the border...

[Double Naught Spy]

www.blueservo.com

You can sign up and watch parts of the Texas border via live feed cameras. When you see something suspicious (as described for each view), click a button and a box opens to make a report.

It is free to participate and sometimes you can see some neat stuff. Sometimes it may be wildlife or Joe Rancher taking care of his stock, or it is a group paddling a little boat across the Rio Grande or guys with large bundle backpacks snaking through the brush.

23 cameras are up and running right now, two added in this last week. So the program appears to be growing.

 

[robin303]

How funny. I can be a lounge chair cop from 300 miles away. To bad we cant make the cameras swivel.

 

[Bigbird]

I remember doing this when it first came out. 1 hour of watching with nothing and my ADHD kicked in and havn't tried it agian.

Has anybody seen any activity?

 

[Randman]

I just saw some wild life.. Interesting idea... Just don't know that it will be effective... Probably need another 2 or 3 thousand cameras...

 

[Double Naught Spy]

It would be cool if we could pan the cameras as well. As for being effective and needing more, yep, they need more. The virtual aspect allows people like us to help with spotting suspicious activities. I read somewhere that the attention span of a person watching 8 video camera feeds (such as a store security person) is about 20 minutes before the mind starts to wander and the scanning process become sporadic and less effective.

The cameras do appear to be monitored as you can see that they do sometimes pan and if somebody as spotted activity, will zoom in on the activity and pan to follow. A couple of nights ago, I watched this happen as the camera followed folks loading up a boat and coming across the water.

It is an interesting distraction. While at the computer, I will usually pull up one of the cameras and let is run as I work. If I spot something, I tell them. If not, no harm in having the camera on while I work.

I also like watching wildlife. Camera 20 is the one wher I see most of the wildlife, but last evening I got to watch a fairly good-sized hog for a while on another feed. On thing I have noticed is that if you are watching wildlife and you see them/it take off, if you wait, you can sometimes see what caused them to run, which has been a rutting buck after a doe I watched one evening for about 10 minutes, or sometimes people and/or vehicles where people and vehicles aren't likely to be for proper purposes.

Note that many of the cameras are placed on private lands at the request of the landowners.

Has anybody seen any activity?

I was late to the people in the boat, I suspect, because the camera was already zoomed, but I reported it anyway. I have also reported vehicles several times and people walking through the image once in the last week. I do most of my watching in the late evening where most of the FLIR is set to white being hot (though the hog was black hot) and so things like vehicles really stand out if not blocked by trees and brush.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Well, apparently when the observation is salient, they act on it. Here is a note I received late last evening after reporting the activities of a guy that might have been a spotter on the Mexican side of the River who was in place and doing nothing for a while before being reported and remain there for another hour after the report. It was sort of interesting because on the video feed, you could see that the guy was just standind in place, looking out across the water, not fishing, not walking around, not sitting in a chair to watch the stars, but standing within a couple of feet of the water, watching the US side.

Hello,

Thank you for reporting this person. A deputy was immediately notified. Yes we see this sometimes before activity takes place.

Thank you for your participation in the Texas Border Sheriffs' and Blueservo's border watch program. Please continue to watch and report any suspicious activity you may see. Invite your friends and family to join us at www.blueservo.net.

Thanks.
Bob

 

[308nato]

Just joined as this looks very interesting to get involved with.

 

[MR Redneck]

Does it come with virtual machine guns?

 

[APatriot]

Solution: screw the cameras and secure the freaking border!!!

 

[Stumpy]

Does it come with virtual machine guns?

lets toss that ugly Napolitano lady off a bridge. I nominate MR Redneck to be the new head honcho of the Department of Homeland Security.

 

[Stumpy]

just now saw a small animal cross in front of camera 14. this is awesome! i want to help catch some pushers!

12:00 am, currently watching 2 somewhat large animals in top right corner on camera 4. hard to make out what they are.

 

[Stumpy]

Has anybody seen any activity?

on camera 16, for the past 10 min, ive been seeing lots of men on horseback, vehicles, and 4 wheelers, and all of them hauling ass and going in the same direction.

on camera 4, for the past hour or so, lots of large animal activity.

 

[RetArmySgt]

sounds like this is going to be fun.

 

[Texas1911]

Am I the only one waiting for the tracers and mortar rounds?

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Solution: screw the cameras and secure the freaking border!!!

While this would be a really nifty idea, it is unrealistic. If the federal government can't secure the border, what makes you think that the various sheriffs of the border counties could accomplish that task? Where will the finances come from to hugely increase the sizes of each of the border departments such that they will be able to handle their normal duties in addition to securing the border? Border security isn't the job of the counties sheriffs. That job is with the federal government.

Sheriff
Long respected as the county's top lawman, the sheriff has a range of duties that include criminal investigations, traffic enforcement, operation of the jail and other responsibilities.

According to the Texas Association of Counties, duties of the sheriff include:

• • Providing security for the operation of county and district courts;
    Enforcing traffic laws, other county ordinances and other state laws;
    Service of process;
    Accepting bail for prisoners in his custody;
    Conducting sales of seized and unclaimed properties; and
    Taking charge of and responsibility for the county jail and prisoners.

So border security really isn't their job. That falls to the federal government.

When it comes to general security, what the sheriffs are interested in is protecting the people and property within their respective counties. The dangers posed by illegal aliens, drug smugglers, etc. is why they are trying to mitigate.

​

 

[RetArmySgt]

And the feds refuse to do anything about it so it falls back on the people to maintain the security of THIS free state.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

And the feds refuse to do anything about it so it falls back on the people to maintain the security of THIS free state.

Yes, and this effort is being applied, but folks like APatriot aren't satisfied with any work in that direction if it isn't something that should be totally effective. If he can't have it all, then he doesn't want any. So the feds haven't secured the border. Then who will? Like I said, the sheriff's of the border counties aren't securing the border. They can't. They don't have the budgets, people, or equipment to do that and still do their normal legal duties. Moreover, they don't have the right to trespass on private land for the sake of patrolling. That must come with permission from landowners. What this group is trying to do is to help protect their people and property and this is being partially accomplished with the help of some landowners.

A lot of this comes down to money. As a Texan, how much additional tax are you willing to pay to beef up the economies of the border counties that would come with the dramatic increase in public construction projects and expansion of their respective LE agencies and support services?

If you do beef up the border counties with greatly expanded LE agencies so as to keep the rest of the state safer by stopping illegals and illegal trafficking in the border counties, how many people do you think will cry foul and rant about freedom not involving a police state? How many will whine as a result of being inconvenienced of roadblocks? How many will be upset because the police should be out stopping real criminals and not stopping good citizens?

We know from several places along the border with the US that US Border Patrol personnel and equipment, along with a border fence in many places, isn't enough to stop illegal entries and smuggling. So the efforts along the Texas border are going to have to be significantly greater than what is already being tried elsewhere is the border is to be secured. The expense will be huge.

People want maximum protection at minimum cost, minimum police presence, and minimum inconvenience and that just isn't possible.

Personally, I don't understand why the military isn't responsible for our borders. I realize that we have a lot that keeps them from doing this, but I don't agree with the law. We have a military that will patrol and protect pretty much any country other than our own. We still have soldiers protecting the good people of Iraq with regular patrols right now, but they can't protect their own countrymen at home in the same manner. If we treated the border problem like we are treating the Taliban problem in Iraq, the solution might actually get properly funded. It costs a little over 3/4 of a million dollars for each soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan per year. Cost for a single soldier to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan is about $775,000 per year Just imagine how well we could fortify our homeland border for that kind of money, but we won't do it.

It would make things a lot easier if either the state or federal government owned the land on our side of the border, maybe just a mile or two and in that way it could be actively patrolled and protected, but that would cause all sorts of undue harm and hardship to the owners of that land.

It is a terribly complex problem fraught with all sorts of problems. BorderWatch isn't an ideal solution, but it is working in the right direction by basically adding 'watchers' to the border without adding huge costs.

I am biased as I do like the BorderWatch concept. I get to be a helpful participant in protecting our state by being a good witness to events hundreds of miles distant because technology makes it possible. It is sort of like internet 911, only what we see can be reviewed by the "911 operator" who can then determine if the observation is valid or not and thus have the proper people dispatched. There is no confusion on their end about the location of the report and the validity of it because they get to review the very same things we see and they know the exact locations of the cameras. This sort of reporting cuts down on a lot of the wild goose chases and location confusion and so makes the responses more timely and cost effective.
​

 

[MR Redneck]

Im not going to watch a camera. Tht number you call wont amount to shit if you see something.
People being there and ready to move in on the illegal activity will be the only and most effective method. This camera thing is not new. I first saw this a couple of years ago. Myself and others I know were watching and all that amounted to was disapponitment. Never once did any of us see some illegal get busted on those camera's.

Instead of looking at cameras, I have called everywhere I could think of and attempted to volunteer my time and effort to patrol somewhere.
All I ever heard was, " Do you have police training". My response " Screw you and your police training"! Securing the border has nothing to do with police work! It has everything to do with catching anything and everything that crosses that border and enters Texas!
I only need to know one law to do that, " And that Illegal Tresspassing on Texas Soil"!
If State and Federal Law Markers gave a shit about border security, they would accept civilian help. Till that happens, the borders will be as usless as the people we have making the laws....

 

[Stumpy]

What's wrong with folks asking if you have police training? If I had land, I wouldn't want any yahoo out there. I would want someone who knows what they're doing.

 

[MR Redneck]

What's wrong with folks asking if you have police training? If I had land, I wouldn't want any yahoo out there. I would want someone who knows what they're doing.

When offering to help as a community service, I see no reason why they would expect people to have police training.
Note, If anyone does grant their service as a volunteer they wont be working alone.
The only thing I see that could be useful is some extended tactical training. Hell, Im all for that. Police training isnt something that would appeal to me at all. I have no desire to be a police officer. But I would like to help anyway I could with border security.
Just so you know,Im on all kinds of people ranches just about everyday. When I have to take calls at night, I carry a 45 in my pocket. Never heard anyone complain either.