By Pat Bywater

Meadville Tribune

ERIE — “I think the public is becoming more vigilant,” said A.J. Price, warily eying the marina. “A lot of people have a pretty good ‘Spidey Sense,’ so to speak, and a good deal of nefarious activity is somewhat obvious.”

Still, under the beautiful blue skies of a late morning fall day, it was all but impossible to imagine some terrible threat lurking along Erie’s waterfront. Couples lolled on Dobbins Landing, a group unloaded its catch from a sportfishing trip, a steady stream of boats came and went, seagulls were bobbing on the waves, and the outdoor cafes were starting to get busy.

Seen through the eyes of a U.S. Border Patrol agent like Price, however, Erie is a key battleground on the front line of the war against global terrorism.

The importance the federal government puts on Erie is borne out by the statistics. Since the Erie Border Patrol station was established four years ago, it has grown to 25 agents, quadrupling last year, with more on the way. In fact, the patrol is looking for a new headquarters building now in order to better accommodate the expected increases.

The Erie station is part of the patrol’s Buffalo Sector, which has increased its manpower sixfold since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In the last fiscal year, the sector, which runs from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the Ohio line, led all sectors on the northern border with 1,300 apprehensions.

The federal government has made the Buffalo Sector a priority because prior to 9/11 its staffing was insufficient to address what now is perceived to be a substantial threat, explained Price, the sector’s public affairs officer.

“The threat is here, more so than the southern border,” said Price, who, like nearly every Border Patrol agent, started his career on the border with Mexico. Toronto has a concentration of organized crime groups that have established relationships with known terrorists, he said. In addition, the Toronto crime gangs, as well as other criminal outfits on the Canadian side of the border, have well-established smuggling operations dating back to the days of Prohibition, he explained.

This combination of relationships and experience are thought by many to create a greater security concern than exists on the southern border.

Border Patrol agents like Price work to address this security concern with the help of their colleagues on the other side of the border. “We have a fantastic relationship with the Canadian authorities and that relationship is long-standing,” Price said. “The intelligence on the northern border is so much better than on the southern border.”

Despite the fact that Erie’s considered a key link in border security, the patrol is barely visible on Presque Isle Bay. There’s just one 23-foot patrol boat.

It’s not due to a lack of resources. It’s all part of the plan.

The patrol is not alone in fulfilling its mission. In addition, watching the imaginary line in the middle of Lake Erie that separates the United States and Canada is not the primary tactic the patrol applies to its mission.

Along with tips and calls from the public, the patrol receives information and assistance from local law enforcers and federal assets like the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security aircraft and boats. In many cases, these agencies are the first to detect a problem or stop a person and then they call in the patrol. In other cases, the patrol rides along with or gets help from these agencies as it conducts an investigation.

Beyond this, the patrol employs what it calls the “wide border concept.” This involves aggressively patrolling transportation transit nodes instead of watching the border on the lake. For example, buses and trains moving through Erie are stopped and checked by the patrol. The station has five sniffer dogs to detect drugs and other contraband. The city is also important for the patrol as it stands at the intersections of interstates 79, 90 and 86.

Even if a suspect isn’t detected by intelligence operations on either side of the border, isn’t spotted crossing the border on the lake, and evades the attention of the public and local law enforcement, they are likely to use one of the transit nodes to move around or away from the area, Price explained.

This tactic is also helpful in picking up suspects who crossed the border elsewhere. “They may not have necessarily crossed here,” said Price, “but they bottleneck to these transit nodes.”

The result is a day-in, day-out application of strategy and intelligence with potentially disastrous results hanging in the balance.

Although he could not share details due to security concerns, “they see us and the Canadians watching,” said Price. “And they scout us,” he stressed. “And we continue our efforts and we continue to encounter persons of interest.”



Pat Bywater can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at pbywater@meadvilletribune.com.



You can help

If you spot suspicious activity or persons on the lake Erie waterfront, contact the U.S. Border Patrol at (800) 331-0353.

Things to watch for include:

- Boats meeting in the middle of the lake

- Activity in a marina at night

- Lots of loading or unloading of boats

- Boats running with lights out

- Rafts coming ashore or left along the shore

- Boats landing along shore outside of a marina

- People throwing things off boats



Did you know?

The U.S. Border Patrol is expected to stand at 18,000 agents by end of the year. The patrol will have nearly doubled in size under the Bush administration.