New and Resources - Government: State and Local - September 2011
A Dirty Bomb? New York City Looks at New Detection Technology
The New York City Police Department is testing ground-breaking counterterror technology expected to dramatically increase its ability to detect and thwart a potential radiation attack. The technology will allow a command center in lower Manhattan to monitor 2,000 mobile radiation detectors carried by officers each day around the city. The detectors will send a wireless, real-time alert if there is a reading signaling a dirty bomb threat. The system already is being tested under the watch of federal authorities in hopes it can be perfected and used elsewhere. The radiation detection system is being developed as part of a $200 million lower Manhattan security initiative. Police said the overall plan was inspired by the so-called "ring of steel" encircling the business district in London, England, but is broader in scope and sophistication. The initiative will rely largely on 3,000 security cameras carpeting the roughly 1.7 square miles south of Canal Street, the subway system, and parts of midtown Manhattan. So far, about 1,800 cameras are up and running, with the rest expected to come on line by the end of the year.