COMMENTARY: Border security Chief Mike Fisher recently announced that his agency will unveil a new strategic four-year plan in the coming months. While the details are not yet finalized, the plan will attempt to take border security to the next level by trading physical security, stand-alone fusion centers and brute force for smarter technology, joint operations and intelligence to more effectively put in place a risk based approach to manage and mitigate threats at the border.

This is a significant upgrade from the original reactive strategy established shortly after September 11, which effectively deployed a vast physical network of operations centers and surveillance sensors throughout the country to identify and neutralize terrorist activity, as well as illegal drug smuggling and illegal immigration.

Although this physical network that is positioned throughout the country has been successful at a certain level in securing our borders, we now need to look at a long-term proactive approach to meet more sophisticated threats and challenges – and this means being smarter about how information is gathered, analyzed and then put into action. This includes working more closely with our neighboring countries (Canada and Mexico) to establish joint operational action plans, policies, training programs in a rapid deployment multi-jurisdictional environment.

Breaking Down Silos

Most people don’t realize that in spite of vast technology capabilities, each operations center still operates in a silo, unable to communicate with other centers, or access data from relevant government agencies. This means border patrol and field operation agents don’t currently have all the information they need to make the best decisions based on current threats, up to date intelligence and real time situational awareness.

The new border security plan will attempt to increase the flow of information to identify and prevent threats more effectively, but this means significantly improving the flow of information and building what is called an “intelligence driven approach.”

More specifically, this will mean developing a platform to give agents access to a range of tools such as secure and unsecured network data, mobile surveillance tools, local department of transportation camera systems and remote video surveillance systems. This also means creating a platform to access vital information from multiple jurisdictions, including state and local law enforcement, federal agencies, and neighboring partners so that it can be applied to threats as they occur.

Moreover, during the next few years, this means not only establishing connection points all across the U.S. so that northern and southern borders are communicating with each other, but also putting in place standards and a common set of requirements to govern how integration centers of the future need to be built and integrated to support better collaboration.

Predicting Threats Before they Occur

Terrorists and those involved in illegal drug trade and illegal immigration have become increasingly sophisticated. Their strategy is to find holes in the system, which is easy when relying on a physical defense system or unmanned areas between ports of entries. However, it becomes significantly more difficult when border agents have access to data and information that’s being collected throughout the country.

With better information sharing and a unified data model, data that’s being collected across each of the centers will be used for trend analysis and pattern recognition, which will actually be able to help predict future incidents and will give border agents the intelligence they need to prepare for likely threats before they occur.

Turning Information into Action

When a threat exists, detection is only the first step in the process.

With better use of technology and collaboration resources, the DHS border security and other enforcement agencies will be able to better deploy the right resources to stop it, while making sure border agents are fully equipped to meet the threat. In this case, the right information and background is critical not only to neutralizing the threat, but also in keeping the border agent safe in the process.

There are several weaknesses that exist in the system today that we must turn into strengths if we truly want to mitigate future threats as well as provide the best response moving forward:

• Better Collaboration. Since our threats do not adhere to jurisdictional boundaries between our countries, we too must work together with our neighboring countries (Canada and Mexico) so this does become an issue for all of us in detecting and apprehending these threats. This includes putting joint policies, operational programs and training on how we can work together to prepare and execute in a threat situation. This also means utilizing a standard set of enforcement data and unified data model to facilitate the processing of individuals and trade.
• Real Time Information. Our current security system does not allow for bi-directional real time collection, collaboration and analysis of threats between the command centers and DHS border agents. Under the new strategic directive, we need to establish a platform to provide real-time situational awareness not just between our operational centers, but also to our border patrol agents and enforcement field operations through the use of mobile technology.
• A New Standard for Video Surveillance. As we start to upgrade the video networks across the borders, we need to develop a standard set of requirements for video sources, resolution and camera functionality. Since our display capabilities are limited by the input sources they receive, this will allow the systems to optimize what information feeds to the integration centers and maximize the visual capabilities to operational end users.
• Smarter Procurement. We need to further improve the procurement process to allow the mission end users (i.e. border patrol agents and field enforcement officers) to have a more active voice in developing the necessary system level requirements. Taking into account their experience and unique “lessons learned,” will help develop the right type of systems, concept of operations, and how they need to be managed post deployment in an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) environment through technology and physical IT support.

A Model for Success: Lessons from the Northern Border

ARRAY Information Technology is currently involved in developing a border security system along the northern border that addresses many of the points in the new strategic plan. This system provides a fully operational environment for real time situational awareness through a common operating picture integrating data and video to allow multi-jurisdictional joint enforcement teams to evaluate and respond to threats.

Our mandate was to create a Operations Integration Center (OIC) along the northern border, and essentially create an immense forty screen video wall that can be used to provide critical data from multiple sources in real time. This meant establishing a system to harness information from secured and unsecured networks, mobile and remote video networks and cameras, tunnels systems and the feeds from DoT traffic cameras, and view this information in real time in any optimal command and control configuration that makes sense in order to make real-time decisions based on situation awareness.

This OIC leverages a joint operational model that allows all jurisdictional enforcement field operators and decision makers that includes DHS CBP Border Patrol, Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), DHS US Coast Guard, US Air & Marine and local law enforcement to work together to detect, analyze and deploy actions against potential threats. With this system, agents can review different scenarios based on sources that come in. Depending on the threat, they can make a multi-jurisdictional decision on how to react. And, depending on where the jurisdiction lies, they deploy either field office support or coast guard support, and they do this in conjunction with the Canadian border patrol as well.

The primary challenge in developing the OIC had to do with managing non-essential roadways and coastal waterways between the United States and Canada, without manned check points to main arteries is high and the combined traffic on those non commercial roadways is significant. (This remains a weak point in the effective monitoring of illegal immigration and drug smuggling.)

Through a network of intelligent audio and visual recognition monitors, agencies can now track and effectively process all transit points real time across the border and stem illegal movement between the countries. This gave a joint operations team, a platform for real time situational awareness, incident tracking and enforcement response by securely integrating data from critical networks and camera systems.

In many ways, this system has set a new standard for border security and now serves as a model throughout the U.S., directly resulting in apprehension of those trying to illegally cross the border and providing data analytics for understanding trends.

As the new strategic plan comes into focus during the next few months, and is implemented during the next four years we will see a fundamental shift toward technology, data, and analytics, and measuring how we are actually reducing threats.

Based on our project along the northern border, here are some predictions for what to expect from a national strategy in the years ahead:

• Improved efficiency. DHS CBP was able to make better use of technology to more intelligent monitor the northern border, which included not only hardware, but the underlying technology needed to monitor and assess data. Looking ahead, we’re going to see a much greater focus on analytics and predictive modeling to assess threats sooner and respond more effectively.
• Better collaboration. The DHS CBP system has the ability to coordinate through and across multiple federal and local government agencies, such as the FBI, CIA, Coast Guard and local law enforcement, to assess a situation and deploy the appropriate measures with the right resources. As we move forward, we’re going to see a significant focus on information sharing between and among agencies and operations centers. There will also be discussion around how to incorporate collaboration platforms in future operations centers as they are being built. The technology for better collaboration exists, but we’re going to see a big push in the years ahead to roll it out.
• Better Processes. DHS CBP put in place a system along the northern border that can be replicated (standard set of requirements) throughout the U.S. to improve the current system for monitoring and border patrol throughout the U.S., which remains a significant challenges along the Mexican border. With better information sharing, data analytics and collaboration, we’ll be able to understand what works, and how to apply it more broadly to the overall border security plan.

Jay Kalath is Vice President and CTO of ARRAY Information Technology, one of the nation’s leading IT products and services firms. Jay created and continues to lead a security program in partnership with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the northern border. The program has directly resulted in the apprehension of those trying to illegally cross the border, and provides data analytics for understanding key trends.