Internal Border Patrol memo says FAA has not met service needs for 30% of cameras
PHOENIX—Rep. Greg Stanton is pressing the Federal Aviation Administration for answers after a leaked internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection memo said nearly one third of its Remote Video Surveillance Systems are inoperable. The memo, NBC News reports, says the FAA has had internal problems meeting the needs of the Border Patrol, without elaborating on what those problems are.
“The RVSS program is designed to enable the Customs and Border Patrol to survey large areas without having to commit hundreds of agents in vehicles, thus improving the safety of agents. It is unacceptable that this technology Border Patrol relies on to secure the border and stop the flow of illegal narcotics into our country sits unused,” Stanton writes in a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker.
He requests answers to the following questions:
- Can the FAA confirm the scope of the issue? How many RVSS cameras are affected?
- Is the FAA working with contractors to run or to repair these cameras? What is FAA doing to ensure these contractors are compliant with CBP’s Information System Security Policies and Procedures Handbook?
- What is FAA’s timeline to fix these cameras? When will the RVSS cameras be fully functional?
- Why are so many of these systems broken or malfunctioning?
- What are the communications between the FAA and CBP on the state of these cameras?
- What additional resources might the FAA need to ensure technology along our border can be serviced in a timely manner?
The full letter is available HERE.