Glitches raise doubts on virtual border fence

“The worst that happens is that we have a system which gives us some value but we conclude that it’s not worth buying any more of it,’’ said Mark Borkowski, the government’s director of the project at US Customs and Border Protection.

The first permanent segment of virtual fence - a 23-mile stretch near Sasabe, Ariz. - was supposed to be turned over to the Border Patrol by the main contractor, Boeing Co., for testing in January, but the handover has been delayed by problems involving video recording equipment.

The Bush administration launched the project in 2005 to help secure the border against illegal immigrants, drug smugglers, and other intruders. It was conceived as another layer of protection, in addition to thousands of Border Patrol agents and 650 miles of real fences.

The system was supposed to let a small number of dispatchers watch the border on a computer monitor, zoom in with cameras to see people crossing, and decide whether to send Border Patrol agents to the scene.

Originally, the virtual fence was supposed to be completed by 2011; that date has slipped to 2014, largely because of technical problems.

Among other things, the radar system had trouble distinguishing between vegetation and people when it was windy. Also, the satellite communication system took too long to relay information in the field to a command center. By the time an operator moved a camera to take a closer look at a spot, whatever had raised suspicion was gone.

The Homeland Security Department and Boeing said the early problems were fixed, but other glitches keep popping up. The latest: a software bug that causes video recording devices to lock onto the wrong cameras, hindering agents trying to collect evidence against illegal border-crossers.

The government is trying to negotiate with Boeing to let the Border Patrol begin using the first permanent stretch of virtual fence at night while the contractor is still working on it. Otherwise, the Border Patrol might have to wait until early fall to take control of the section.