Border security metricsCBP to unveil new metrics for border security
Next February Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will release a new set of metrics to determine safety along the U.S.-Mexico border; according to a recently released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, CBP will no longer measure border security in terms of “operational control”
Next February Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will releasea new set of metrics to determine safety along the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to a recently released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, CBP will no longer measure border security in terms of “operational control.”
The agency came under fire in February after a GAO report found that CBP had only 126 miles of the U.S-Mexico border under operational control. The metrics failed to effectively communicate that the rest of the border had also been secured and instead gave the impression that CBP had no control over vast swaths of the 1,120 mile border.
Operational control is at the top of a five-level scale the CBP used to measure border security. Nearly two-thirds of the border was classified as “monitored,” meaning border agents had a high probability of detecting crossing activity but the ability to respond depended on the availability of resources and the area’s accessibility. The remaining portion of the border was considered “low-level monitored.”
To more accurately communicate the state of border security, CBP will begin using the “Border Condition Index” in fiscal year 2013, which is based on outcomes of border activity. In addition, the agency will also use a metric based on the estimate of total illegal crossings and the probability of apprehension by border agents.
