Public Safety Signals
A discussion of Public Safety issues and why they matter
Public Safety and Sealing the Borders
2007 Sep 25 Posted by Joseph Pascarella
Illegal immigration and the flow of illegal immigrants through a very porous United States has increasingly becoming a Public Safety issue. The latest plan by the Federal government is to build a 70 mile long wall that is 16 feet high in southern Texas. This plan is one of many, some involving high-technology such as remote sensing (an unproven technology for use in desert conditions, where they will be installed) and the old-fashion wall and fence. These physical structures are constructed in lieu of Border Patrol and theoretically, a more efficient use of resources.
Unfortunately, they have been as successful at stemming the tide of illegal immigrants as harsh criminal justice policies have been in eliminating the illegal drug trade. If there is a market there will be a force. Unfortunately, public safety is often in the middle of these unwinnable and borderline absurd policies. The absurd becomes outright dangerous as public safety officers are expected to enforce these policies under these conditions. Often, political officials mistakenly correlate heavy-handed policies with eradication, even after continual failures that span generations.
Take care and stay safe.
Joe Pascarella
3 Responses to “Public Safety and Sealing the Borders”
Joseph Pascarella Says:
Latrivia,
Thanks for the post and you bring up some excellent points.
I do agree that a physical wall is a useless endeavor.
Joe Pascarella
Shelley Smith Says:
It would be any interesting concept to build a wall to keep people from entering the US. Personally, I would prefer to see something done with the illegal aliens we have here presently. It is frustrating as a law enforcement officer to come across someone here illegally and we are told to let them go. The wall may help, but I would rather see the money used elsewhere. Shelley Smith
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Latrivia Nelson Says:
Well Dr. Pascarella,
I have to agree with you. I’m truly irritated by the build a fence safety measure that the United States Government has devised. With all of the many women and men from various agencies that have to put their lives on the line each day to try to stop the smuggling of drugs, people, sexually explicit material, etc., we should consider developing more sound plans that help strengthen their position. After all, we did go to the moon, and while I say that sarcastically, there is a certain amount of pride and quality that should go into any project that we have to stamp the US label on. However, this time, I believe that we continue to drop the ball on illegal immigration from our southern brethren.
Sure the great wall worked wonders thousands of years ago, but now, I believe that we should integrate a little modern technology into the plan. People sit on both sides of this debate focusing on the human rights issues. However, there is a larger component of this that deals directly with the safety of American citizens. There is a reason for social security numbers, state identification and other earmarks to keep up with citizens and legal aliens. When you take away simple safety measures, you lose your ability to control or monitor. By having so many illegals with all types of problems living in the US with no way to be controlled or monitored we will continue to see increases in all types of crime. Are we paying close enough attention to the rising numbers in violent crime and their correlation to the growing illegal population? What are the ratios for capture and deportation vs. the ones that slip through the cracks only to be allowed to commit the same crimes or more heinous ones again. There is a true link to the problems that American’s are suffering through and the fallen borders.
October 5th, 2007 at 1:10 pm