By Associated Press
Youngstown, NY – U.S. Border Patrol cameras are trained on hikers, boaters and anyone else using two state parks along the Canadian border.
The cameras, on towers overlooking the Niagara River in Fort Niagara State Park and in Joseph Davis State Park in Lewiston, are the first of 16 that will be placed from Youngstown to Hamburg in upstate New York.
Agents said they are using the cameras to detect terrorists and illegal immigrants around the clock. They said they will not use them in any way that violate citizens' rights to privacy.
Though area residents complained in 2000 that the surveillance would intrude on their privacy, Youngstown Mayor Neil Riordan said he hasn't heard any complaints since the towers went up last month.
Similar towers, near the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge and near the Whirlpool Bridge in Niagara Falls, have been used for surveillance since spring 2002.
Two months ago, agents arrested several people trying to cross a river illegally after they were spotted with the help of an infrared camera in Lewiston.
One of the new towers is 60 feet tall. The other is 80 feet.
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Information from: The Buffalo News, http://www.buffalonews.com
Copyright 2004, The Associated Press