NYC Police to Board Ships for Possible Radioactive Material

Bloomberg
By Chris Dolmetsch

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- New York City police, the U.S. Coast Guard and other government agencies will stop and board some ships near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge today as part of an exercise to monitor boats for possible radioactive material.

About 17 vessels from agencies in New York and New Jersey will take part in the exercise, which is part of ?Securing the Cities,? a Homeland Security Department-funded program started in 2006 to find ways to prevent a nuclear device or so-called dirty bomb from entering the New York City area.

The exercise, which will last from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, isn?t the result of a specific threat, the New York City Police Department said in a statement.

The NYPD has agreements with 12 agencies representing New York, New Jersey and Connecticut under the program, with the goal of creating a 100-mile (161-kilometer) network around the city to detect and interdict a nuclear device or dirty bomb, which scatters radioactive material, the statement said.

The operation will test the partners? ability to maintain a ?choke point? on the water and identify and intercept ships emitting radiological signatures as they enter the harbor.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: August 4, 2009 08:38 EDT

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NEW YORK (AP) ? Law enforcers on boats are holding a terrorism drill south of the Verrazano Bridge.

The goal is protect the area from a potential "dirty bomb" or nuclear device.

Participants on about 17 vessels will practice checking for radioactive material.

The exercise is being held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday.

It's part of an NYPD-led initiative called Securing the Cities. The funding comes from the federal Department of Homeland Security.

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