Due to Florida’s 1,200 miles of coast, drug trafficking and human trafficking are major issues for the state. Border protection agencies state that completely stopping trafficking and smuggling through the United States’ borders is nearly an impossible job.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office understands the importance of spotting and stopping potential dangers to the United States as soon as possible. Sheriff Bradshaw is working with the Fusion Center, a central office dedicated to gathering intelligence to decrease these threats, located at the PBSO.
The PBSO location is the lead Fusion Center for the Department of Homeland Security for South Florida and also works with other intelligence gathering law enforcement agencies around the country.
The Fusion Center gathers information crucial to protecting our nation’s border. The agency staff is collecting information in real-time for different crimes, including drug trafficking and human trafficking. The turnaround time for the center to receive the information and be alerted that something is happening is only 60 seconds.
Sheriff Bradshaw emphasized the importance of stopping illegal activity before it has the chance to enter the United States through Florida’s coasts. According to Bradshaw, Palm Beach County is the only county in the United States to implement coastal radar to help detect threats. “If we get information that people are coming this way in boats, our radar detects people who come ashore, also from our aircraft and we try to stop them before they hit the land,” said Bradshaw.
“Most of the Coast Guard’s assets are down in Key West,” states Bradshaw, “so there’s a limited number of Coast Guard assets here. Our marine patrol units and aviation along with the Coast Guard, ICE and Homeland security work this border here.”
Sometimes illegal migrant boats make landings in Palm Beach County, according to Bradshaw, but because of the information gathered at the Fusion Center, they send out units and often catch people before they can make it inland.
Sheriff Bradshaw and the PBSO Fusion Center hope to work to decrease the crime that is illegally entering the coastal borders of Florida and provide further protection and safety to residents.
