Austin, Texas – The Texas Department of Public Safety is readying to more than triple the number of surveillance cameras it operates along the Mexico border, installing 4,000 new devices, as part of the next phase of an ongoing law enforcement surge on the border.

DPS Director Steve McCraw last week provided House lawmakers on a select committee with an update on the military and law enforcement operation ordered up by top state officials in response to the wave of unaccompanied child migrants that crossed into Texas over the summer. That included the first public details on the number of new border surveillance cameras.

McCraw told the panel he currently is overseeing a transition in the overarching surge strategy from one of "deterrence" to one he labeled "interdiction," a stage that will also include the hiring of 600 additional troopers and the expansion of aircraft surveillance.

A key component of the strategy shift is saturating the border with thousands of new surveillance cameras, in part as a replacement for the National Guard troops who currently man dozens of observations posts in the Rio Grande Valley, but are set to leave in March.

"We're going to move as quick as we can," McCraw said after the hearing when asked about a timetable for the cameras.

DPS currently has about 1,300 cameras stationed along on the border. McCraw said the 4,000 new devices will not only be installed in the Rio Grande Valley, where the surge is focused, but will stretch across the entire border, from El Paso to Brownsville.

Funding, along with the blessing to move forward with the surveillance cameras, came via state officials earlier in the week, who approved injecting another $86 million to continue the surge. The bulk of that money is being directed to keep the increased DPS presence along the border through August.