Surveillance Towers Planned for Detroit, Buffalo

The U.S. Border Patrol is erecting 16 more video surveillance towers in Michigan and New York as part of its plans to use technology to help secure parts of the United States’ 4,000-mile northern border with Canada.

The government awarded the $20 million project to Boeing Co., the same company responsible for the so-called virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border that has come under criticism for faulty technology.

Eleven of the towers are being installed in Detroit and five in Buffalo, N.Y., to help monitor water traffic between Canada and the United States along Lake St. Clair and the Niagara River.

At present, Border Patrol agents are posted along the river to keep an eye on water traffic.