For the first time in history, a Department of Homeland Security meeting was streamed to Web information centers for government officials across the southwest.
The meeting, which took place at UNM on Friday, revealed the Obama administration's National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy.
The administration of President George W. Bush created "Fusion information centers" when the Department of Homeland Security was formed to help enforce communication between law enforcement agencies, said Lee Drake, a volunteer at Friday's meeting.
Drake helped set up the Fusion network for the event and said this is the first time the network has been used to stream a national meeting.
"The White House is very excited to have this happen," he said. "Reception all across the board was extremely positive. It's a huge move towards transparency and openness in government."
Representatives from the Department of Justice, the
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Department of Homeland Security and the Office of National Drug Control Policy were on campus for the meeting and collaborated on the new strategy.
United States Attorney General Eric Holder said the goal of improving border security involves law enforcement agencies from local, state and national levels.
"By focusing on increased cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican governments, as well as enhanced communication within U.S. law enforcement agencies, the strategy we introduce today provides an effective way forward that will crack down on cartels and make our country safer," he said.
Holder said the strategy encompasses strengthened relationships and security for the United States and Mexico by working to end violence in northern Mexico and contain the damage caused by drug cartels.
"The National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy outlines steps we can take in the fields of intelligence and information sharing, border security, investigations and prosecutions, and law enforcement technology to continue building on our success and partnership on both sides of the border," he said.
Janet Napolitano, United States Secretary of Homeland Security, said this strategy will strengthen law enforcement agencies by providing them with immediate access to information through databases, which aid with the identification of criminal aliens and the information provided through Fusion sites.
"We think that, by making it easier for law enforcement working at local, state and federal levels, getting access to these kinds of databases make for better law enforcement," Napolitano said. "We make for better use in law enforcement by identifying those who are already in our country who are violating our criminal laws."
Julie Roberts, acting director of the New Mexico chapter of the Drug Policy Alliance, was in attendance at the meeting and said the alliance is hoping the new strategy will reduce the supply of drugs coming across the border and the demand for them.
"The violence on the border because of the drug war is spiraling out of control," she said. "We need real solutions to address what is happening on the border. What we were hoping to see is more of a focus (on) drug demand reduction in this country. We really need a comprehensive plan on how to increase access to substance abuse treatment."
Roberts said that the level of community involvement and public knowledge is important to reducing demand.
"We can fight the cartels all we want," she said. "We can prosecute, and investigate, and lock down our borders, but if there is a demand for drugs there is always going to be a supply. We have to focus on reducing that demand."
Secretary Napolitano said a vital part of the strategy is enlisting and educating the public and private sectors on the progress.
"A federal government department cannot do Homeland Security by itself," she said. "This needs to be a department that leads efforts in Homeland Security, but every American has a role here - every city, every state, every tribe. The private sector has a role. This is an area where we all share responsibility."
FACT BOX:
The objectives of the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy:
1.Enhance intelligence capabilities associated with the Southwest border.
2.Interdict drugs, drug proceeds, and associated instruments of violence at the ports of entry, between the ports of entry, and in the air and maritime domains along the Southwest border.
3.Ensure the prosecution of all significant drug trafficking, money laundering, bulk currency, and weapons smuggling/trafficking cases.
4.Disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations.
5.Enhance counterdrug technologies for drug detection and interdiction along the Southwest border.
6.Enhance U.S.- Mexico cooperation regarding joint counterdrug efforts.
~www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov
