KOLD News 13 live, local and late breaking-Virtual Fence Powered By Volunteers

Virtual Fence Powered By Volunteers

By J.D. Wallace, KOLD News 13 Reporter

A border watching group plans to get volunteers to watch the border from the comfort of their own computer.

"You're watching the border from a hotel in Tucson!" American Border Patrol president and founder Glenn Spencer told a handful of reporters in a room at the Marriott near downtown on Tuesday.  "You could be in Omaha, you could be in Bangkok!"

Volunteers can watch and control a $100,000 camera system over the internet.

"We have them all over the country," he said.

They can search for people crossing the border.

"Here's the thermal vision," he said, as the view changed to show what was hot and what was not, which illustrated that the system worked even at night.

"The volunteers across America, saving us hundreds of millions of dollars a year, the taxpayers would certainly like that!" he said.

"We basically are not affiliated with them, we don't support, we ask they allow us, the agencies that are trained, to do the job," said U.S. Border Patrol agent Mario Escalante.

He said that someone not familiar with the area calling in activity on screen could do more harm than good.

"Now that takes time from our agents to check something not liable, or they're not sure about," Agent Escalante said.

"My answer to that is let's try it out, let's work out those kinks," Spencer said.

The current system watches about nine miles of border.

"It can be done, and it can be done safely," Spencer said.

"We'll take the call as a citizen's call," Agent Escalante said.

About ten volunteers are already watching.

"We have to do whatever is necessary," Spencer said.

Hundreds more could be waiting to join, ready to report what they see to the U.S. Border Patrol.

"I just hope that the American people will put pressure on them to take a close look, a fresh look, and an honest look at this idea," Spencer said.  He said that applications are screened, applicants are interviewed by phone, and that anyone suspicious would be checked by a security firm.