Government Security News April May 2015

Dateline Phoenix: Dispatches from 2015 Border Security Expo
U.S. Mexican border cooperation essential
By Stephen Bittenbender
America’s southern border is becoming
safer thanks to the cooperation
between local, state and
federal law enforcement officials
who patrol that critical area on a
daily basis. And while they claim
the borderlands are now safer
than places further inland, they
also admit more needs to be done
to maintain the safety.
That was the consensus
from a panel of border patrol and
law enforcement officials at a session
during last month’s Border
Security Expo in Phoenix. Five
current and former officials from
all levels of government spoke
about the challenges they face
and why cooperation is vital.
Speakers included: Major
J.D. Robertson, commander of
the Texas Rangers Special Operations
Group; David M. Marwell,
director of the Joint Task
Force – Investigations, Southern
Border Approaches for the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security;
Robert L. Harris, director
of DHS Joint Task Force – West,
Southern Border Approaches;
and Victor Rodriguez, police
chief in McAllen, Texas.
David Aguilar, former
Acting Commissioner for
U.S. Customs and Border
Protection moderated the
discussion.
Federal officials stated
that they must have active
partners at the state level in
order to stop criminal activity.
Harris said there has been talk of
integrating law enforcement systems
for 15 years, but no one has
yet been able to define what that
includes.
Aguilar said that Texas officials
have been taking the initiative
on their own.
“A lot of good has come
from that,” said Aguilar, who retired
in 2013 after a 35-year stint
with Customs and is now a partner
at GSIS.
One such example has been
Operation Drawbridge. The initiative
is a collaboration between
the Texas Department of Public
Safety, U.S. Border Patrol and law
enforcement officials in 20 counties
that border Mexico.
The border between Mexico
and Texas is more than 1,200
34
miles long, with most
of it in rural, secluded
areas that make
it prime grounds for
illegal immigration,
drug trafficking and
other illegal activity.
Operation Drawbridge
has enabled
Texas law enforcement and National
Guardsmen to monitor the
vast area remotely through the
use of more than 800 cameras,
which cost on average about $300
each.
State monitors receive an
alert any time a camera detects
David Aguilar