Spokane7
27°
June 8, 2010 in City
Border Patrol seeks texts on suspicious activity
U.S. Border Patrol agents often use horses to look for smugglers in the forested mountains along the Canadian border, but now will be adding a more modern tool to help them keep watch — text messaging.
The agency on Tuesday began asking residents, campers, hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts to send anonymous text messages to report suspicious people they come across in the lightly populated area from Washington to Montana.
“Each alert person is going to be an extra set of eyes and ears for us,” said Danielle Suarez, spokeswoman for the agency’s Spokane Sector, referring to the 200 agents who patrol the region.
A key element of the plan is anonymity for the text message sender, which is important in small towns where people often know nearly everyone.
The tips system, which is used by several large law enforcement agencies, was designed to assure anonymity “by encrypting the text messages and routing them through several secure servers, protecting the personal details of the informant,” according to a Border Patrol press release. The information is assigned an alias and a unique ID that allows authorities to have a two-way dialogue while keeping the informant’s identity anonymous.
The agency is also pushing a companion service that allows people to send tips through the website tipsubmit.com. Officials say the Web-based system is necessary in a region where cell phone coverage is sparse and some residents don’t have the devices.
“Texting, I’m not hip with that yet,” said Pat Zimmerman, who co-owns the combination quilting shop and state liquor store in Metaline Falls, a scenic town of 220 people about 10 miles south of the border. She said she’ll likely use the e-mail service.
Immigrant rights groups say they are worried because similar efforts have devolved into racial and ethnic profiling.
“It can lead to targeting of particular communities,” said Pramila Jayapal, executive director of OneAmerica, a Seattle immigrant rights group. “It creates the sense that somehow we should be suspicious.”
To prevent profiling, the Border Patrol has been running classes in border communities to teach residents what to look for, Suarez said.
Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said the plan makes good sense, adding that many police departments are set up to receive text message tips.
“There is no reason this cannot and should not be implemented in the area of border security,” he said.
The border here is a 10-foot wide clearcut called “the Slash,” carved from the dense forest. Short obelisks are located every few miles that say “Canada” on one side and “United States” on the other. People can quickly disappear into the trees here.
Lonnie Moore runs the Metaline Falls, Wash. office, which has 21 agents and covers more than 33 miles of the border.
About 95 percent is public land, and agents use trucks, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and horses on their daily patrols, where they sometimes find themselves contending with moose and grizzly bears.
Most of the illegal activity involves drug importing from Canada, along with people trying to get into the United States from places like Mexico, India and South Korea, after making the relatively easy entry into Canada, Moore said.
Having the aid of residents and others to report tips would be a huge help, Moore said.
“We already receive calls,” Moore said. “We would receive even more.”
Agents already make nearly 90 percent of their contacts based on tips from the public and other law enforcement agencies, he said.
© Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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johnclarke on June 08 at 8:49 a.m.
How do you send an anonymous text ?
misjustice on June 08 at 9:07 a.m.
Good point, john…as any communication sent via wireless phone or computer is linked to the sender…hmmm…
Why didn’t the article give the number for the US Border Patrol? If people are expected to help, the number is necessary!
SheriffsDaughter on June 08 at 9:08 a.m.
I am SICK of the “racial profiling fear” Its very very simple… if you are here ILLEGALLY you should be reported and deported.
wrekinbal on June 08 at 10:07 a.m.
@misjustice - the numbers is in the grey box up above.
@SherrifsDaughter - Yes, agreed, but if you were born in the US, you shouldn’t be stopped because you look different, or suspicious, or brown. That’s the problem with these types of requests.
spokanada on June 08 at 10:18 a.m.
Sheriffs Daughter,
How can you tell if someone is here illegally just by looking at them? I’d be interested to hear your answer.
Smargasborg on June 08 at 10:28 a.m.
I’m with you sheriffsdaughter. And, ignore the PC folks on here that want to skirt the law. We need a law similar to Arizona’s here QUICK.
zelda on June 08 at 10:44 a.m.
Sounds like this is aimed at drug activity. WA’s border with Canada has a different set of issues than the SW’s border with Mexico.
lewis8457 on June 08 at 11:16 a.m.
Sheriff Daughter and Smargasborg do I can hear the jackboots goose-stepping in the distance.
How long before we all have to wear a visible tattoo that says we are free Americans?
Why do Americans have to give up more and more of their freedoms to control a problem we pay thousands of people to do? For the money we spend we should have been able to afford a high tech satellite fence that can detect human DNA along said border.
Instead we have billions of dollars every year spent on this issue and now we need to have Johnny average do the job. Come on give me a break. Homeland security just admit it you don’t know what the hell you are doing.
Hcklbery on June 08 at 11:59 a.m.
HOW DO YOU SEND AN ANONYMOUS TEXT ???
YOU START YOUR TEXT WITH “”” THIS TEXT DID NOT COME FROM ME “”” (WITH THE THREE QUOTATION MARKS BEFORE AND AFTER WITH ONE SPACE BETWEEN THE FIRST AND LAST LETTERS AND THE QUOTATION MARKS.
AND IT WILL ANONYMIZE ITSELF, COMPLETELY UNTRACEABLE…
THIS PROTOCOL WAS FIRST DESIGNED FOR THE GOVT WHISTLE BLOWER PROGRAM BUT WORD GOT OUT AND THOSE THAT ARE IN THE KNOW USE IT ALL THE TIME WHEN THEY DON’T WANT TO REVEAL THEIR IDENTITY, IT WORKS THE SAME AS CALLER ID BLOCK BUT WITH TEXTS…
misjustice on June 08 at 12:14 p.m.
S-R…Thanks for expanding/updating the story and for providing the contact info for the Border Patrol…
misjustice on June 08 at 12:16 p.m.
Hcklbry, thanks for the info…I’m not very tech savvy, lol!
spokanecougar on June 08 at 12:34 p.m.
Still waiting for the people to explain how you can tell someone is here illegally just by looking at them. These are probably the same people that thought it was ok the Nazi’s made the Jews were the Star of David during WW2. You racists idiots.
misjustice on June 08 at 12:41 p.m.
It’s so obvious spokanecougar; if they have brown skin!
Acutally, along the northern border I think they are looking for white guys/gals bringing in the BC Bud!
johnclarke on June 08 at 1:38 p.m.
“”“YOU MUST BE JOKING”“” (that comment was not sent by me)
Hcklbery on June 08 at 2:08 p.m.
I’M LAUGHING TOO TOOOO HARD TIOOO RESSPOONDDDCB
WillyPeter on June 08 at 2:10 p.m.
Spokanecougar - I can tell you’re actually a Husky-in-Mufti just by reading your post. Real Cougars know how to spell….
Hcklbery on June 08 at 2:17 p.m.
HOW MANY OF YOU ALL TRIED IT ????
COMMMMMM ONNNN TELL THE TRUTH…………
LLLLLLLOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL
horse_feathers on June 08 at 3:51 p.m.
If you really want to find out if they won’t be able to trace the text, send em a bogas tip and see how fast they come knocking on your door charging you with obstructing justice or false reporting.
misjustice on June 08 at 4:14 p.m.
I didn’t try it hcklbry…like I said, I’m not tech savvy. Thanks for the laugh, though…
PhiltheBibliophil on June 08 at 4:47 p.m.
Everyone is suspicious! Report your neighbors if they sneeze the wrong way! Cougar, you got it right and not as far fetched in the futre either especially if Tea Partiers get elected!
liberal_in_right_wing_land on June 08 at 5:02 p.m.
WillyPeter - Showing the level of intelligence of the right wing - do a spell check on his post and you would see there are no misspellings. Its not a Harvard level statement, but there is no misspellings.
wrekinbal on June 18 at 5:13 p.m.
liberal - Yes, there is. It’s “wear” not “were”.