Read More of the Same Day's Blog

CBS' closing Assignment America feature from Steve Hartman looked at the Texas-Mexico border. A $2m grant to the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition has installed 15 closed-circuit surveillance cameras on border utility poles and connected the video feed to a live streaming Website. The coalition has enlisted the support of 35,000 so-called virtual deputies, civilian monitors who contact the sheriff when they spot suspicious movement. In two months "the program has only produced eight arrests and four drug seizures, not much bang for the buck." So when its grant expires, the coalition will need commercial funding to continue operations: "Since it is a virtual stakeout the first sponsor they are hoping to get is Dunkin' Donuts."
Andrew Tyndall 2/9/09 9:43:43 pm

© 2010 Tyndall Report