Border Patrol agents assigned to the Miami Sector have two new sets of high-tech eyes to help them keep a closer watch on the border, said the US Department of Homeland Security's US Customs and Border Protection.
The Miami Border Patrol Sector recently took delivery of two mobile remote video surveillance systems. The systems consist of a sophisticated camera array attached to a hydraulic mast mounted in the bed of a pickup truck.
The systems, commonly called "scope trucks," allow Border Patrol agents to quickly establish surveillance of suspicious activity. It only takes a few minutes for agents to drive the truck to a suitable location, raise the mast and begin viewing images up to five miles away. The camera array uses a combination of technologies that allow agents to see images in daylight, at nighttime and in all sorts of weather.
"These systems provide us a valuable tool for the detection and interruption of activities that pose a security threat to our nation's border," said Miami Sector Chief Patrol Agent Matthew Zetts. "We are able to use them to greatly enhance our border security enforcement capabilities on land, on water, and in the air."
Because of their mobility, the systems will be deployed throughout Florida for use in securing the coastal border between the ports of entries against trans-national maritime smuggling threats, over-the-road highway antismuggling operations, and other special operations.