Texas virtual surveillance plan is delayed
Intended to debut in June, the governor now says it will be soliciting bids shortly; plan will allow citizens to monitor surveillance cameras over the Internet; officials say at least four firms will be hired to handle the networking and infrastructure issues involved
A much-touted plan — some had the audacity to call it a political ploy — by Texas Governor Rick Perry to install a virtual surveillance system along the Mexican border has yet to launch, but new details are available about the contracting process. Readers may recall that Perry imagined a system in which interested citizens could watch images from border cameras over the Internet. When they spot an illegal immigrant, they would call an 800 number and report the sighting. “I look at this as not different from the neighborhood watches we have had in our communities for years and years,” Perry said, as he carved out $5 million for the project, with most of the money to go to purchase new night-vision cameras and networking technologies to connect them.
Although Perry had hoped to get the system up and running in July, the technical problems have proved more difficult than first imagined. Much of the border lies across open ranges, making it difficult to secure reliable radio signals, and the governor’s office now believes it will have to contract with at least four different companies to resolve the project’s technological and infrastructure requirements. The state is currently reviewing an ongoing demonstration period and expects to publish an official request for proposals shortly, perhaps as early as this week.
-read more in Juan Castillo’s Statesman report
