EL PASO, Texas – The Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition has launched a new network of Internet cameras aimed at the Mexican border in the latest effort to bolster local border security efforts with live video steaming.

Using a $2 million state grant, the TBSC turned on the 10 cameras Thursday afternoon.

Donald Reay, the coalition's executive director, said the group's one-year contract with BlueServo, a San Angelo-based company that helped with a similar state-run program in 2006, is good through next June, when the grant expires. The contract is worth up to $2 million, Reay said.

Much like during the monthlong test run of border cameras, users watching the cameras will be able to anonymously e-mail law enforcement to report suspicious activity. During the pilot program, 14,800 e-mails reporting suspicious behavior, suggestions for improvement, and other comments were sent to state officials.

That initial pilot project, Texas Border Watch, was riddled with technological glitches. Pictures from the cameras were grainy and some of the Web cameras were placed so high that it was difficult to distinguish from bush from a person. Images from the cameras available Thursday appeared clearer than previous pictures beamed from the border.

Reay said the new cameras have been placed in various locations along the border, some on private property and others in public locations. He declined to say where the cameras are, citing security concerns.

State officials canceled the bidding process for a new camera network – the state had hoped to place about 200 cameras along the border – after the bid deadline expired in mid-April. Allison Castle, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry's office, said the bids "were going to do too little and cost too much."

The deal between the border sheriffs and BlueServo will allow the company to sell advertising "to defray the infrastructure and costs of operating" the program, according to a statement from the coalition.