This exercise, involving some 17 vessels from New York and New Jersey agencies, is part of the NYPD-led Securing the Cities (STC) initiative, a US Department of Homeland Security-funded program to devise and perfect ways of guarding against the infiltration of a dirty bomb or nuclear device into New York City and environs .
The exercise is NOT as the result of a specific threat against the city.
The goal of the STC Initiative is to create a foundation; a ringed architecture, in and around New York City, extending as far as 100 miles, to detect and interdict a radiological dispersion device (dirty bomb) and/or an improvised nuclear device. The NYPD has negotiated memoranda of understanding with 12 principal partners, which represent three states - New York, New Jersey and Connecticut - 60 counties , and over 150 law enforcement agencies. STC detection efforts include land, rail, and maritime environments.
Tuesday's exercise will test the multi-agency partners' ability to maintain a choke point on the water and identify and intercept nondescript vessels emitting various radiological signatures as they enter New York Harbor.
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