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So wait, we're going to have people just stare south for 8 hours a day? How is this not 'government waste'?

oh_sigh 9y ago
Well, hundreds of thousands of people try to cross the southern us border every year. It is only wasteful if they aren't accomplishing anything. And, these days we have video cameras, so one person can monitor multiple miles of the wall from an operations center
- Balgair 9y ago
  Then why do we need a wall if we're just going to use cameras anyway? It'll slow them down, yeah, but just by the amount of time that it takes to climb a ladder, cut some wire, whatever. Maybe 2 minutes max?
  - oh_sigh 9y ago
    The cameras aren't going to be directly on the wall, and they won't be easily accessible.
    - Balgair 9y ago
      I'm confused. Are there going to be cameras? If they aren't on the wall, where are they? Hidden in some cactus or in a drone? Still, why a giant wall then if all it ends up being is a concrete hurdle?
      - oh_sigh 9y ago
        Yes, but the camera won't be easily accessible at all, let alone from the Mexican side. The wall is so people can't just mosey across the border. Even if you had cameras there, sending out a team once you see someone crossing would be very difficult to find them. With the wall, it will be passable but will take work and a fair amount of material like ladders, ropes, etc which will all take time, and allow for security to arrive with a greater chance of catching people.
        Balgair 9y ago
        But that's like a 3 minute delay, max.
        oh_sigh 9y ago
        How do you know how much time it takes to get from the closest dispatch center to the furthest possible point before the next dispatch center?
        Balgair 9y ago
        Ok, so napkin math time: Assume you need 3 people to drive out to apprehend illegal crossings for officer safety. You also then need 3 others to watch while others are out apprehending and then be able to respond for other illegal crossings. Assume 3 minutes to cross over the barriers per person. Assume it takes you no time to see the crossing happen, you can tell the second a ladder is put up. Assume the roads are dirt, but in good and dry conditions. So you can travel about 40 mph on them on average, including the time to accelerate from 0mph at the remote watch tower station and then back down to 0 to apprehend people. 40mph is 2/3 miles per minute, btw. So, the minimum distance at 3 minutes to cross would then be 2 miles. Meaning you'd need about 6 guys every 2 miles. So about 12,000 people for the 2,000 mile border. Now you can play with the numbers, and talk about capturing people that scatter into the interior, but you're still at about 1 officer per 1 mile (ish), not 1 officer per 10 miles or 100 miles of border, with significant downtime per officer per day.

Well, hundreds of thousands of people try to cross the southern us border every year. It is only wasteful if they aren't accomplishing anything. And, these days we have video cameras, so one person can monitor multiple miles of the wall from an operations center

Balgair 9y ago
Then why do we need a wall if we're just going to use cameras anyway? It'll slow them down, yeah, but just by the amount of time that it takes to climb a ladder, cut some wire, whatever. Maybe 2 minutes max?
- oh_sigh 9y ago
  The cameras aren't going to be directly on the wall, and they won't be easily accessible.
  - Balgair 9y ago
    I'm confused. Are there going to be cameras? If they aren't on the wall, where are they? Hidden in some cactus or in a drone? Still, why a giant wall then if all it ends up being is a concrete hurdle?
    - oh_sigh 9y ago
      Yes, but the camera won't be easily accessible at all, let alone from the Mexican side. The wall is so people can't just mosey across the border. Even if you had cameras there, sending out a team once you see someone crossing would be very difficult to find them. With the wall, it will be passable but will take work and a fair amount of material like ladders, ropes, etc which will all take time, and allow for security to arrive with a greater chance of catching people.
      - Balgair 9y ago
        But that's like a 3 minute delay, max.
        oh_sigh 9y ago
        How do you know how much time it takes to get from the closest dispatch center to the furthest possible point before the next dispatch center?
        Balgair 9y ago
        Ok, so napkin math time: Assume you need 3 people to drive out to apprehend illegal crossings for officer safety. You also then need 3 others to watch while others are out apprehending and then be able to respond for other illegal crossings. Assume 3 minutes to cross over the barriers per person. Assume it takes you no time to see the crossing happen, you can tell the second a ladder is put up. Assume the roads are dirt, but in good and dry conditions. So you can travel about 40 mph on them on average, including the time to accelerate from 0mph at the remote watch tower station and then back down to 0 to apprehend people. 40mph is 2/3 miles per minute, btw. So, the minimum distance at 3 minutes to cross would then be 2 miles. Meaning you'd need about 6 guys every 2 miles. So about 12,000 people for the 2,000 mile border. Now you can play with the numbers, and talk about capturing people that scatter into the interior, but you're still at about 1 officer per 1 mile (ish), not 1 officer per 10 miles or 100 miles of border, with significant downtime per officer per day.