Border patrol agents beef up security

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Border patrol agents are beefing up security just in time for the holiday weekend. New cameras will allow agents to have a constant view of the Niagara River.

The Secure Border Initiative will give the United States Border Patrol additional sets of eyes from the mouth of the Niagara River right up through Youngstown.

Monday, an 80' monopole was being installed at the Coast Guard station in Buffalo.

It's one in a series of poles that will be installed along the upper Niagara River this summer including, at Beaver Island, in the middle of the river on Grand Island, and at the water intakes in Niagara Falls.

Each pole has a platform with two high resolution, all weather cameras. They'll transmit images back to the command center on Grand Island.

The command center is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Border patrol agent A.J. Price said, "We position these sites so that we can get full field of view coverage from each site, there's not going to be one single gap along the entire river where we cannot monitor it. We'll be able to give them real time intelligence, real time information on any safety issues that might be happening in the water as well as other illegal activity. The cameras can actually act as a deterrent. They've proven to be a deterrent down on the southwest border, in fact they've acted as somewhat of a deterrent on our upper river area in the Niagara Falls, Lewiston, Youngstown area. Smugglers know the cameras are there, they know they're being watched in that area and it actually diminishes activity in those areas."

The lower Niagara has had video surveillance since 2003.

Once the new cameras are up and running to the tune of one million dollars per site, the entire length of the Niagara River will be covered by video surveillance.

It should be fully functional by the end of summer.