Border Crossings At 40-Year Low; Patrol Adopts "Risk-Based" Strategy

With border crossings at a 40-year low, the U.S. Border Patrol announced a new strategy that targets repeat crossers and tries to find out why they keeping coming, reports the Associated Press. For nearly two decades, the patrol has relied on blanketing heavily trafficked corridors for illegal immigrants with agents, pushing migrants to more remote areas where they would presumably be easier to capture and discouraged from trying again.

"The jury, for me at least, is out on whether that's a solid strategy," Chief Mike Fisher told AP. The new approach is more nuanced. Outlined in a 32-page document that took more than two years to develop, agents will draw on intelligence to identify repeat crossers and others perceived as security threats. "This whole risk-based approach is trying to figure out who are these people? What risk do they pose from a national security standpoint? The more we know, the better informed we are about identifying the threat and potential risk," he said. Yesterday, members of the House Homeland Security subcommittee asked Fisher why the new strategy didn't include any specific "metrics" that could help members of Congress and the public better understand if the border is secure.

Are Police Agencies Expanding the Use of Surveillance Drones?

With little public attention, dozens of universities and law enforcement agencies have been given approval by the FAA to use unmanned aircraft known as drones, reports the Wall Street Journal. Documents obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests by an advocacy group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, show that more than 50 institutions received approvals to operate remotely piloted aircraft. They include police agencies in places such as North Little Rock, Ark., and Ogden, Utah, as well the University of North Dakota and Nicholls State University in Louisiana.

The documents don't indicate how the aircraft will be used, but federal legislators have asked the FAA to answer questions about the privacy implications of increased drone use. Among the other 23 police agencies and 24 universities on the list are the Houston Police Department; Arlington, Texas, Police Department; Queen Anne’s County Sheriff in Maryland; the FBI; Gadsden, Ala., police; Georgia Tech police; Mesa County Sheriff in Colorado; Miami-Dade police; Montgomery County Sheriff in Texas; Polk County Sheriff in Florida, and the Seattle Police Department. Among the smaller agencies listed were Otter Tail County, Minn. (population 57,303), and Herington, Kan. (population 2,526), reports AllGov.com.

Rand Study Suggests More Random Deployment for Border Patrol

Random deployment of Border Patrol agents might work best to prevent illegal border crossings, according to a study from the RAND Corp. reported by California Watch. The study, funded by the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate, found that combining historical data on illegal crossings with a bit of unpredictability would nab the highest fraction of border crossers. The U.S.-Mexico border spans nearly 2,000 miles, and there is no way to saturate every mile with enough agents to catch every illegal immigrant or smuggler, said Joel Predd, study co-author and a researcher at RAND.

The Border Patrol therefore must develop effective strategies to deploy a limited number of agents, he said. In the past, the Border Patrol stationed agents by relying heavily on historical trends of where border crossers were apprehended. The trouble with that strategy is that once crossers notice increased enforcement, they might alter their routes and actually have a higher rate of success in unpatrolled areas. For instance, after the Border Patrol launched Operation Gatekeeper in 1994 to halt the flow of traffic through San Diego, illegal entries there plunged, but overall apprehensions continued to climb.

States, Counties Must Maintain High-Tech Anti-Terrorism Gadgets

Federal anti-terrorism grants have given Tennessee cities and counties emergency response equipment that, a decade ago, they couldn’t have tried to buy in their dreams, The Tennessean reports. The money was real: $192 million from the U.S.  Department of Homeland Security that paid for remote-controlled bomb-handling robots; special equipment for collapsed building rescues; high-tech surveillance cameras; all sorts of boots, masks, and body armor; and food for police dogs. There was even a training seminar about how to apply for more money.

Now, cities and counties are being asked to maintain all the high-tech gadgetry they obtained. Among the most coveted pieces is the armored Bearcat, a paramilitary vehicle with a gun turret on top and the ability to drive directly into an explosive or hazardous “hot zone.” Nashville police got one funded for $89,000 and have rolled it out about 175 times since 2009, including during barricades and high-risk searches. Some equipment sits on shelves. “This year for the first time, DHS is encouraging sustainment,” said Rick Shipkowski, deputy Homeland Security adviser for Tennessee. “They realize they have put billions of dollars into this program and have capabilities people couldn’t have dreamed of years ago, and it would be a shame to see those go to waste if we don’t prioritize sustaining them.”

U.S. to Keep Data on Americans Longer With No Terrorism Link

The Obama administration is relaxing restrictions on how counterterrorism
analysts may retrieve, store, and search information about Americans gathered
by government agencies for purposes other than national security threats, says
the New York Times.

Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday signed new
guidelines for the National Counterterrorism Center, which was created in 2004
to foster intelligence sharing and serve as a terrorism threat clearinghouse.
The guidelines will lengthen to five years - from 180 days - the amount of time
the center can retain private information about Americans when there is no
suspicion that they are tied to terrorism. The guidelines are expected to
result in the center making more copies of entire databases and "data mining
them" using complex algorithms to search for patterns that could indicate a
threat.

Intelligence officials said the new rules grew out of reviews launched after the
failure to connect the dots about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the "underwear
bomber," before his Dec. 25, 2009, attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound airliner.
Government agencies discovered they had intercepted communications by Al Qaeda
in the Arabian Peninsula and received a report from a United States Consulate
in Nigeria that could have identified the attacker, if the information had been
compiled ahead of time. The changes are intended to allow analysts to identify
terrorism suspects more quickly. They set off civil-liberties concerns among
privacy advocates who invoked the "Total Information Awareness" program that
was proposed in the George W. Bush administration and partially shut down by
Congress after an outcry. It proposed fusing vast archives of electronic
records - like travel records, credit card transactions, phone calls and more -
and searching for patterns of a hidden terrorist cell.

How Much Is Security Worth?

By Lisa Riordan Seville

Two leading thinkers on homeland security call for an ‘adult conversation’ about terrorism.

Police Spend Billions In U.S. Aid on Antiterror Equipment

If terrorists ever target Fargo, N.D., the local police will be ready, says the Center for Investigative Reporting. They have bought bomb-detection robots...

How U.S. Is Handling Hundreds of Inmates In Terrorism Cases

A decade after the Sept. 11 attacks, the New York Times looked at how federal prisons have handled the challenge of extremist violence. Among the findings...

911 Technology Lags; Upgrading Will Cost Billions

The growth of technology has left 911 behind, says the Washington Post. People can send a text to vote for the next American Idol, but they can’t send one to report the East Coast Rapist. Modernizing 911 has taken on renewed urgency as the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks approaches, but actual progress is slow and could be years away in many places.

Federal and local officials acknowledge the need to modernize 911 calls, and they have taken small steps to digitize, but there are no plans in place for how to pay the billions of dollars the upgrade will cost and no timetable has been set. “The thinking is, ‘I can text almost everyone — why can’t I text 911?’ ” said Jeffrey Horwitz of the Arlington County, Va., emergency communications center, which has completed a $38 million upgrade in anticipation of moving to a digital 911 network. “We need to evolve as the technology evolves.” Consumer expectation has already outpaced 911 capabilities. When Verizon Wireless customers send a text message to 911, they get this reply: “Please make a voice call to 911.” Other simple actions, including sending 911 a smartphone photo of a car speeding from a robbery, are also impossible. about 70 percent of the 240 million 911 calls each year come from wireless phones, says the Virginia-based National Emergency Number Association.

Feds Adopt Two-Tiered Terror Alert System, Replacing 5 Colors

The federal government is adopting a simple, two-tiered alert system to warn of terrorist threats and possible attacks, USA Today reports. The National Terrorism Advisory System replaces the five-colored terror alert system that was adopted soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

In place next week, it will alert the public to one of two warning levels: An elevated threat alert, the lowest warning, would be issued if a credible threat were determined, but it likely wouldn’t detail any timing or terrorist targets. An imminent threat alert, the highest notice, would be triggered if there were a credible, specific and impending threat or ongoing attack.

Advocacy Group Seeks Broader Definition of Federal 'Data Mining'

Many federal efforts that arguably use data mining might be flying under the radar because the law requiring agencies to report on such activities applies a very narrow definition of the practice, according to a Constitution Project report. Broadening that definition was among several policy recommendations the nonprofit organization made in the report, reports Nextgov.com. Data mining refers to information searches designed to identify individuals involved in terrorism or crime.

The Constitution Project advocates broader definitions of data research. "We recommend expanding the definition of data mining programs under the act to reflect the broader definition applied in this report, and thereby require reporting on a greater number of programs," the study stated. The project's senior counsel, Sharon Bradford Franklin, acknowledged Congress would have to mandate such a change, and that likely will take time. The federal government has applied data mining tools to detect tax fraud, as well as to investigate misuse of economic stimulus funds. The technique has broad security applications, but critics are concerned the collection and retention of data for mining might violate privacy, due process and free speech rights.

Border Security Funding Shifts From High Tech To Boots, Bodies

The House's approval Tuesday of $600 million in border security funding appears to mark a shift away from technology in favor of more boots on the ground, reports the Christian Science Monitor. Half of the money will pay for 1,500 new border agents. Another chunk of nearly $200 million goes to the Justice Department-supported efforts of the US Marshals and other law enforcement agencies. Two surveillance drones ring up another $32 million.

In March, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano froze funding for a "virtual fence" begun under President Bush in 2006. The string of towers was intended to catch illegal border-crossers using cameras, radar, and ground sensors, but it was "plagued with cost overruns and missed deadlines," Secretary Napolitano said. The program had burned through some $2.4 billion between 2005 and 2009. Another border security measure with a high price tag but not many supporters: the 600 miles of fence erected along the border since 2005. A 2009 Government Accountability Office audit found that the fence – still unfinished – had cost $2.4 billion to build, and would require another $6.5 billion to maintain over the next 20 years.

"To Walk the Earth in Safety"

The State Department released their annual report, "To Walk the Earth in Safety," about its worldwide weapons eradication program in mine clearance and destruction assistance. Th U.S. works in 32 countries to destroy weapons, as well as implement programs to assist conflict survivors and inform area residents of potential risks from unexploded munitions.

Read the report here.

Use The Crime Report for more information on international criminal justice.

NY Claims Terrorism Funding Cut; Feds Say It Isn't So

The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday announced $790 million in federal grants for port and transit security for fiscal year 2010, and accusations flew that the Obama administration had cut more $50 million from New York’s funding, reports the Christian Science Monitor. The Obama administration disagreed. New York politicians, including U.S. Rep. Peter King and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer lashed out at Homeland Security. But the White House said New York will see a funding increase of $47 million after some $100 million from the stimulus package is added.

“In fact, one out of every three recovery dollars for transit and port security went to NYC, making them the largest recipient in the country,” writes Nick Shapiro, assistant White House press secretary, in an e-mail. According to Shapiro, funding for port and transit security grants in the US will rise 14 percent in 2010, after the stimulus funds are taken into account. The increase is even higher for New York – 24 percent more funds over 2009.

Despite NYC Terror Arrest, Case Shows Cameras' Limitations

With 82 city-owned surveillance cameras and scores of private ones, New York's Times Square may well be the world's most scrutinized patch of real estate, says the Washington Post. When a bomb-laden Nissan Pathfinder rolled into the famed plaza Saturday evening, it was inevitable that multiple cameras would pick up the sport-utility vehicle as well as the fidgety middle-aged man who was seen standing near the car, stuffing a shirt into a satchel. Elected officials seized on the foiled attack, in which an arrest was made overnight, to press their case for hundreds of additional cameras for New York, one of several U.S. cities to champion video monitoring as a means of thwarting terrorists and reducing crime.