Border Security Technology Deployment - Case Study Example

? REQUIREMENT COMPLEXITY IN THE SITUATION SBInet as a system represents a complex case of conflicts of interests whereby National Security concerns are marred by political interference This is especially evident in the statement acquired from the contractor. In the contractor’s point of view, the job that had been assigned to him/her was virtually impossible because of the lack of independence in his/her work. The assignment was the provision of technology but officials who had little or no knowledge in technology called all the shots in the assignment. Another case of political intrusion is mentioned by the Border Patrol Station Chief. He claims that some Washington based politicians had the towers installed approximately three hundred and thirty feet apart from the border so as to avoid “sending the wrong message.” Their new positions consequently minimised their capabilities. The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Sector Chief and the Border Patrol Station Chief cite the Native American tribal councils as a major problem. According to Border Patrol Station Chief, there is a quick change of governance in the Native American tribal councils and every new leadership undermines all agreements that had been made by the previous leadership. To make matters worse Unmanned Arial Vehicles are not allowed to fly over their territories without permission. Neither can the border patrols cross without their permission. According to the CBP, Sector Chief Native American land is a preferred route for illegal immigrants due to its inaccessibility. The only way to deal with politics in this situation is to have a regulatory committee that tables the grievances of any trouble departments especially due to external interference. This is because some untouchables may have their way in jeopardising the SBInet operations due to their lack of professionalism in the particular field that is border security (CNN, 2012). It will be necessary to have the committee immune to manipulation or even intimidation so as to have a dependable body that is fair to all. 2. Conflicts between involved parties undermine border protection There are conflicts between the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE, whose responsibility is to monitor, investigate and to resolve illegal immigration deeds seems to be at loggerheads with CBP. CBP whose responsibility is to patrol the border and to monitor illegal entry, apprehend and detain the illegal immigrants claims that ICE does not share information related to their common line of work. It is clear that the line of work between the two departments is very much related hence there is a need for co-operation especially from ICE. The ICE department claims that when the Department of Homeland Security was introduced the ICE, and CBP became one and blames the CBP for trying to take their assets. Meanwhile, CBP claims that ICE does not share their sensor data. According to the Border Patrol Station Chief it is difficult for the right hand to work without knowing what the left hand is doing. In as much as that makes perfect sense it is clear that the individual departments are supposed to be independent of each other. Hence it would be wiser to either have both departments combined into one with all their duties synchronised. Another option would be having their duties defined into clear, separate undertakings such that there will be no inter dependence between each other. This suggestion is mainly based on the reality that there may be policies within the individual departments that may make the ability to inter relate somehow constrained. The inter relations between the departments should also be put down on paper so that future conflicts be avoided and procedures of interactions be common knowledge. 3. Lack of accountability and responsibility hence blame games Blames games are commonplace in SBInet with no particular individual taking responsibility for any faults. For example, the Border Patrol Station Chief blames everyone but him/herself for everything gone wrong. These include politicians, ICE, lack of proper standardization, Native American leadership, procedures for dealing with the immigrants, contractors and upholding and such. Meanwhile, the ICE agents blame CBP for tampering with their equipment, the technology employed among others issues. These blame games are clear proof that responsibilities to be undertaken are not tied to particular individuals/departments but are communal. This lack of specialisation in responsibility to departments and within departments gives everyone a chance to freelance. Common responsibilities also play a huge role in the blame games since departments whose responsibilities are almost similar can blame each other without a clear solution being achieved. In conclusion, it would be necessary to have distinct responsibilities to distinct individuals. Any requirements by any particulars should also be tabled down and presented to the providers of the requirements. In retrospect, a mini-constitution should be put in place since these problems go beyond border security. This is to make certain that there is a position as to what should be done and not be done and also as a way of resolving conflict whenever there is a disagreement about a procedure to be undertaken. 4. Unclear strategies that do not oversee efficiency in methods that have been employed Even when it is distinguished that a secure border has not been achieved, it is difficult to pin point the main cause of the problem or even its origin. This is due to the fact that there is no clear way of making sure that the primary objective has been achieved or is in the line of being realised. There is a need for an overseer who will make sure that the mission is a common objective by a team of departments but not rival departments, which are trying to downplay each other. The team will work better to achieve the common purpose but the rivals will make the purpose a competition which will derail the progress. Given that there are four major departments that oversee border security, it would be wiser if they were interlinked and yet independent of each other. This is due to the fact that their main aim is to secure the border but their individual missions are different. No man is an island, and since the departments have been engulfed in the same sea (border security) it would be wiser if they had documented ways of interactions so as to avoid further conflicts. Taking a closer look at the departments: a. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – monitors the border for illegal entry and detaining the illegal immigrants. b. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – observing, investigating and solving unlawful immigration activities. c. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – ensures the security of the borders and prevents any threats to internal security. Part of it, which is the Science and Technology Directorate, ensures that this is improved by the application of technology. d. Department of Justice (DOJ) – prosecutes illegal immigrants and unlike the other previously mentioned departments, it is not a part of DHS. In a way of trying to design a working solution, the departments ought to work together as per the following suggestion. When the CBP monitors the border for illegal entry and detains the illegal immigrants, it should have two responsibilities. The first will be to hand over the detainees to the Department of Justice for prosecution and also as a way of freeing up their cells, which is a problem previously mentioned. The second will be to report to ICE the loopholes that immigrants are using to get into the country. The ICE will then be responsible for solving the immigration problem, and when the problem is beyond them the subdivision should toil in unison with DHS to come up with a more permanent solution that will even employ technology. The DHS is the department that should have innovative expertise, which will seek to find long lasting solutions. This expertise should also recognise the uneven terrain and use methodologies that that are applicable to the different parts of the border. 5. Inadequate facilities to deal with the detainees In as much as the main problem that everyone is trying to solve is to have the border secured, there is little effort that is scheduled to “Dealing with the Detainees.” This is a problem that is mentioned by both the Detention’s Officer and a DOJ attorney. The number of detainees is far much more than the space that is available hence leading to some of them being released. Other than that, the processing, clearing and prosecuting are slowed by the lack of assets that are needed to have these procedures done. According to the attorney, when the number of detainees reaches the upper limit, there is no choice but to free some of the detainees which may end up being dangerous since some of them are smugglers and there is no telling how dangerous they can be when set free. This in general goes to show that a lot of effort is put in the field and far much less in the detention camps. To make matters worse the border is not secured by a physical barrier hence there is no particular way of making sure that no more illegal immigrants can make their move. This means that with all the measures in the field put into place and when successful, there will be even more detainees. This situation is especially made worse by the fact that a very slight percentage of the border is monitored by the technology that has been put in place. The chief answer to this dilemma is to have more facilities that will deal with the detainees built. Another measure would be having the prosecution of the detainees a priority to installing the technology along the border since the bigger the perimeter that is monitored the bigger the number of detainees. With each increase of the number of detainees there is the risk of having an unsatisfactory way of dealing with them. There is also the need for specialisation of the prosecution in order to make the task lighter. This will serve to having only detainees being dealt with at one instance hence reducing their number in the bunkers. Deportation has also been mentioned as a problem whereby the question at hand is whether a bus service will be established in order to transport them back. Detainees who have no previous records and who are subject to deportation should always have a warning such that whenever they attempt to immigrate illegally again there will be consequences. The detainees who have previous record should face stricter laws. It would as well be essential to make certain that the stretch of the border that is not under surveillance be monitored closely since that is bound to be the more popular immigration route. REQUIREMENT 2 SYSTEMS, AGGREGATE, AND ERRORS Border security as a System and not an Aggregate SBInet is the body that oversees the implementation of the border security. SBInet is made up of several departments whose roles in the border security management have been specialised as per the classification of the department. These departments have a collective responsibility of ensuring that the Southern border is secured and not used by illegal immigrants to get into the country. Were SBInet to be an aggregate, the responsibilities of these departments would be individual and they would not be inter-linked to each other. The mission of securing the border is done by apprehending illegal immigrants and having them prosecuted. The process also involves taking illegal items such as drugs, currency and weapons. The immigrants who may have previous records are prosecuted and detained. Those, whose records are clean, are deported back. The routes used by these illegal immigrants are looked into and sealed. The sealing is in the form of use of available technology such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) which patrol and send signals whenever they detect movement of perceived immigrants. There are also towers which have the same purpose as the UAVs. At times there may be a need for personnel experience hence the deployment of more experienced workers. These experienced workers may seek the intervention of more technologies efficient technology such as thermal imaging services, drones, mobile-surveillance-systems and even video surveillance that are based on towers. That as a whole represents a system, whereby the border monitoring is taken care of by the department of ICE. CBP then investigates the ability by the illegal immigrants to cross the border. CBP also seeks to solve the problem at hand in order to prevent further illegal immigration. CBP works hand in hand with DHS in trying to find a long lasting solution. These solutions include the use of technology. The Department of Justice then prosecutes the immigrants with criminal records such as rape, murder among other records and detains them. The smugglers are also prosecuted in the DOJ. The interrelation between the different departments is as follows: The border in particular is an aggregate of terrain ranging from inaccessible mountains to deserts. It also has sovereign territory that is not to be tampered with prior to having consent to have the right of entry to it on or after the Native American tribal councils. However the responsibility of securing the border is a single mission that is looking forward to covering up the whole stretch of the border using a computerised system. It is important to have dissimilarity between structure and collective in this category. This is important because it should be distinguished whether the analysis will be looking into individual components that are not related or one component made up of different parts. In this case it is different parts (departments) of one component which make a system. Type III and Type IV errors The type III error made in this system is installing the right mechanisms to counter check the wrong problem. The schemes that have been erected are all technological in nature hence forgetting the people aspect. This whole system deals to prevent immigrants using methods that do not challenge the deeply rooted problem that is why people want to cross. Since prevention is better than cure it would make sense if the problem was addressed from across the border where the illegal immigrants originate. The type IV error that has been made is having political agents oversee the working of the project. This is a wrong approach especially because the motive of the political agents will be to secure the border but to secure individual political interests. This should be addressed by ensuring that the whole project is free from political manipulation and in order to establish the overall head of the project, a chairman to the project should be appointed. This is to ensure that questions of superiority are no longer unknown but properly defined. REQUIREMENT 3 SYSTEMS PRINCIPLES, LAWS, and CONCEPTS Applicable system principles, laws, and concepts In the case of SBInet there are some laws and policies that require to be enhanced so as to ensure a rigid organisation of its functions and operations. Firstly, there is compulsion for a law to be put in place which will determine how the different bodies are supposed to interact with each other. This is due to the fact that the informal way of interaction has led to major problems such as conflicts of interests, blame games and feud over who should do what. As I had suggested earlier there is also a need to have a regulatory committee to oversee every departments operations. This will also help to have every department responsible for the operations that are within their schedule. This will help to pin point the origin of every problem that may arise and hence a sensible solution will be formulated by having the responsible parties deal with them hastily. The regulatory committee will at times be a judge of the departments. This will be by assessing the progress made by the departments over a specific period of time. It will also see to it that their faults are tabled and presented so as to take necessary measures of rectifying the problem. An overall chairman is also required and this will somehow be the co-coordinator of all the operations that are related to border security. The main purpose of this chairman will be to see that the interrelations are without conflicts hence smooth running of the operations. He/she will also protect the different departments from bullying and manipulation by higher powers or even politicians. The chairman will also act as the governor of the departments who will be calling the shots and making the big decisions. However it will be important that the chairman be readily available since the departments that he /she will be dealing with are quite busy and will need all his/her attention. The ICE department will be required to have a stronger and more effective investigating team since the illegal immigrations are increasing by the day instead of the vice versa. The expansion should also have a panel of experts who are innovative enough to come up with working solutions and not the current inefficient ones. DHS should work hand in hand with ICE by making sure that technology which is the most powerful resource that man has ever come up with is efficiently utilised. This utilisation should include systems that are at least 75% effective and the ineffective ones laid off. For example if a tower has been able to detect only 50% of the movement it should be enhance to make sure that more than 75% of it is detected. If that is not possible then it ought be replaced with something besides that is supplementary dependable for example optical and infrared sensor towers and stationary radar. Stricter laws pertaining to illegal immigration ought to be put in place so as to curb the number of people who will try to immigrate through the improper methods. This should also include smuggling in its docket. For example smugglers should face the law in a broader perspective other than through the DOJ to the higher court system. This should see to it that a smuggler will have second and third thoughts before doing his/her deeds. The deportation of normal smugglers should also have warnings such that if you are caught more than one time there will be a court case awaiting you. Implications for conducting systems analysis for this situation This system analysis has been conducted with the motive of finding out the problem that lies in the securing of the Southern border. It was also a mode of trying to get solutions to which will minimise the illegal immigration and smuggling of items. The analysis was also done as a way of reducing the political reference that the border has had over the years. As it has been discovered in the analysis the political problem goes beyond its reference but has also had major interference from “people from Washington”. In a way it is a favourite spot for politicking about hence its progress is intentionally derailed so as to maintain its relevance as a debate subject. With the slack security along the border, there are lots of smuggling activities taking place hence raising the risks of terror attacks alongside contamination. Drugs and weapons are some of the major smuggled items which are both threats to the common American people. For example lethal weapons and drugs can be easily smuggled into the country hence making it a popular target with terrorists and drug traffickers. The analysis was conducted to find a way of making sure that border is secured from smuggling of items. REQUIREMENT 4 ANALYTIC STRATEGY FOR SYSTEMS ANALYSIS The investigation of the border security was undertaken by having to review the overall system that is responsible for the said security. This was done by first identifying the various departments that are associated with SBInet. After that it was necessary to understand their organisations and individual responsibilities. By doing this, structure and functionality of SBInet would be established. The research was also extended to interviewing the heads of departments who were willing to voice their grievances and also some of the workers. This was the main resource that we used to give our analysis a clear foundation. This is because the underlying problems are with the people (workers) who are the main resource of the project. By knowing what disturbed them then and only then can the problem be established and solved. Research on the internet was also done particularly from CNN’s website, which had covered the story in 2010. The website had extensively discussed the cancellation of the virtual fence by the then Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The information obtained from the CNN website was not considered in our analysis since it was told from one person’s point of view hence did not qualify to be part of the analysis which mainly covered the departments. Objectives tree Definition of the Problem at SBInet National Security concerns are marred by political interference Origin of the Problem The Southern border issue is a favourite topic for politicians Solution(s)for the Problem(s) A regulatory committee that tables the grievances of any trouble departments especially due to external interference The primary reason for carrying out this research, was to define the problem that SBInet faced, have the problem’s origin identified, come up with a solution for the problem. These steps which comprise the objectives tree are shown. Details of the analytic strategy related to data collection and analysis The study was conducted all the way through the use of interviews. We interviewed such personnel as the Border Patrol Station Chief, ICE agents, the CBP sector chief, Detention Officer, a contractor, an Attorney from DOJ and a DHS S&T representative. These interviews from all departments helped us come up with an unbiased overall view of the problems faced by the different personnel that hindered them from establishing a secure border. This also helped us identify the low lying issues that were not SBInet related. They proved helpful since as mentioned earlier the main problems were politically inclined or conflicts between departments. There was also the study of the different departments and identifying their main duties that helped come up with a clear strategy of interactions between the departments while at the same time avoiding conflicts between them. This strategy will ensure that the procedures are treated as subject of one unit that is SBInet and not different bodies that have no common purpose. Unique concerns with respect to data collection and analysis for this situation that might negatively impact execution of the analytic strategy In one of the proposed solutions, CBP and ICE are to have interrelations that are vital to maintaining a secure border. However, given the catastrophic history between the two departments, the proposed solution is under major risk to fail. This is because the conflicts range from blame games of stealing and destruction of department’s property to denial of important information. In another case, the US Attorney from DOJ cited that the large number of illegal immigrants to extents of a maximum led to some of them being released. The detention officer also had similar grievances. Hence, if a very efficient mechanism of detecting illegal immigrants was put in place, and they were all detained other facilities required to carry out the rest of the procedures are redundant. This, as a result will make the whole procedure useless. References CNN. Homeland Security chief cancels costly virtual border fence. n.d. 4 June 2012 . Read More