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Watchdog: Is DPS ‘surveillance detection’ just plain spying?
Is the Texas Department of Public Safety spying on law-abiding Texans?
The surveillance detection program is run by TrapWire, a Virginia-based company that is a key player in DPS’ intelligence operations.
WikiLeaks revealed that TrapWire paid Stratfor an 8 percent commission to help it sign the Texas account in 2010.
TrapWire president Dan Botsch told me his program is designed “to help detect indicators and patterns of an attack, enabling security and law enforcement to prevent terror and criminal acts.”
As best I can tell, the way it works is like this: Surveillance cameras placed around vulnerable locales such as the State Capitol Complex, the Governor’s Mansion, possibly the Houston Ship Channel and other unknown places look for potential terrorists who may be scoping out targets for attacks.
TrapWire, which also employs former CIA agents, doesn’t run the cameras. State and local law enforcement does. But if someone shows up at a protected location and appears to be studying a target, the system will capture that and report it to TrapWire, which conducts deeper analysis and shares the information with appropriate law enforcement.
Botsch, the TrapWire president, said, “Our entire program is based on the fact that terrorists, including professional organizations and those described as ‘lone wolves,’ conduct extensive surveillance of their targets prior to an attack.”
Clients such as DPS, he said, use his system “to detect surveillance and criminal activity, not to conduct surveillance.”
You can see what a thin line this is, and how easy it would be to cross it and look at innocent people. Tourists taking photographs, for example, could be confused with potential criminal activity.
If that were to happen, Botsch says, “any report can later be deleted if the incident is determined to be nonthreatening.”
Who deletes? Who decides?
DPS spokesman Tom Vinger referred me to his department’s 27-page privacy policy as its guidepost.
“TrapWire does not perform surveillance,” Vinger said. “The system does not have cameras. And it does not target individuals or groups. Anything that goes into TrapWire has to be entered manually by DPS.”
He added, “It also helps identify patterns that might suggest pre-surveillance of DPS facilities. And it ties into data from other users on the TrapWire system.”
In Texas, Vinger said, TrapWire led to 44 arrests. He did not answer my question about how much money is spent on the program.
DPS personnel praise TrapWire. A vendor performance report states that TrapWire “is used every day to help protect our State and its citizens from terrorism. The staff is always clear on instruction and they answer questions very quick. They are a great company to work with.”
http://www.dallasnews.com/investigat...ain-spying.ece
44 arrests? how many convictions?
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if he was black they'd have killed him. look how they deal with white suspects 
