Even YOU Can be a Border Patrol Agent (Right from Your Home Computer)

"Coming to a personal computer near you: an opportunity to serve as a Virtual Texas Sheriff Deputy."

The Cameras Go Up

In 2007 the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition and then-governor Rick Perry launched the Texas Virtual Sheriff Deputy program. Ran through a company known as the “Virtual Community Watch”, www.blueservo.net was created as a way for common citizens to monitor the Texas-Mexico border.

The premise of the site is simple. Users begin by logging onto the BlueServo website and creating a free account. After logging in members are taken to a page that displays ten live-stream videos placed at “high-traffic” locations on the Texas-Mexico border. Each video is accompanied by a short description of pointers that members should look for as shown right.

If a viewer happens to see something that they deem suspicious in the area, a button sits below each video where users can anonymously report the activity to the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition tip line. Another section of the website features a compilation of “confirmed” spotted border crossing videos entitled “Access to Texas Denied.”

While the concept can seem completely ridiculous, this idea is not as far fetched as one might think. In the United Kingdom a program known as InternetEyes has been set up where shopkeepers can pay a monthly fee to have their stores monitored by Internet users eager to catch shoplifters.

An American Border Agent– In Australia?

One interesting frame to consider BlueServo through is the fact that one can be a “border agent” from virtually anywhere. From your office in Vermont to poolside at a resort in the Bahamas, a user can log into the website anywhere an Internet connection is present. In one interesting instance BlueServo

became a popular activity for bar-goers in Australia. All jokes aside, an peculiar idea comes from the separation made possible by the BlueServo system. What is the motivation for someone who lives in a state far from the border to engage in the BlueServo system? If your state is almost unaffected by immigration from Mexico, what is your true investment? I believe that the answer to these questions is in the first sentence of this paragraph coupled with the influence of media. The fact that you can assist from far away in any physical state presents a powerful draw for the program. Similar to Harel Shapira’s themes of utility in Waiting for José, citizens of any location or physical condition can prove their worth  or show their support by “catching” undocumented immigrants who the media has presented as such a problem facing the United States.

Waiting and Waiting and Waiting…

A Facebook post by the BlueServo president stated that, per visit, members spent an average of eleven minutes each watching streaming videos of the Texas-Mexico border. While this seems like a significant amount of time, considering the 202,633 memberships that BlueServo reports, placed in context the impact of eleven minutes comes into question. As one can imagine, a lot of time spent on this website would be devoted to staring at live stream videos "waiting for the action" to ensue. With each person spending just eleven minutes on the site per login, could any significant detection of border crossings actually occur? Proponents of the site argue that it does help and credit the site to assisting in the seizing of 330 pounds of drugs in one vehicle. While BlueServo may be able to chalk this up as a win for the website, it is only just one win. With users spending literally only minutes watching the videos it is questionable how big of an effect the program did play in deterring illegal border crossings.

Can I See Your Virtual Badge, Officer?

This concept of being a “virtual officer” has many ties to other stories and incidents of sociology in our lives and in the news. Most relevant to this topic is the main theme proposed and challenged in Harel Shapira’s Waiting for José of ex-military involvement and utility. Additionally, the topic of virtual power can extend far beyond the boundaries of the American southwest borderlands. This theme appeared most prevalently in 2012 with the publicized shooting of Trayvon Martin. In this instance George Zimmerman served as the “neighborhood watch coordinator” for the community in which the shooting took place. Zimmerman apparently overstepped his boundaries as watch coordinator when he decided to follow Trayvon when the emergency dispatcher specifically told Zimmerman that this was not necessary. The notion of this arbitrary title and its influences on perceived power relate directly to the sociological approach of symbolic interactionism.

Badge Revoked— For Now

The Virtual Texas Border Watch program began experiencing funding issues in 2011 and since then it has been operating intermittently based off of donor dollars. Currently the site is removed completely and the company states that “[they] do not know their future direction or next step.”

References

Gaffney, F. (2014). The BlueServo Solution to Border Insecurity. Center for Security Policy. Retrieved on November 20, 2015, from https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/2014/07/23/no-brainer-the-blueservo-solution-to-border-insecurity/

Grissom, B. (2009). Virtual border surveillance program ineffective, cost million. El Paso Times. Retrieved on November 20, 2015, from http://archive.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_11552806/

Prentice, C. (2009). Armchair deputies enlisted to patrol US-Mexico Border. BBC News. Retrieved on November 20, 2015, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8412603.stm

 Unknown Author. (2006). Web users to 'patrol' US border. BBC News. Retrieved on November 20, 2015, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5040372.stm

Further Reading

InternetEyes: British Store Equivalent