Aug 12, 2007 7:18 am US/Eastern
NYPD Operations Return To Normal After Threat
Israeli Web Site Reported 'Unverified' Threat For 3 U.S. Cities
by Mary Calvi
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Members of the New York City police department emergency service unit used hand-held radiation detector to check truck at security checkpoint on Broadway and Canal St. in lower Manhattan in response to unsubstantiated radiological threat.
AP
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NYPD officers open the back of an SUV at one of about a dozen checkpoints set up around lower Manhattan Saturday, August 11, after an Israeli counterterrorism Web site reported an "unverified" radiological threat against the Financial District.
CBS
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New York City police officers check the storage compartment of an SUV in lower Manhattan early Saturday, August 11. The NYPD said it was manning checkpoints and taking other steps to guard against what it called an "unverified" radiological terror threat.
CBS
After a night of stepped-up security -- there is little reason to worry about a possible al Qaeda threat against New York.
The NYPD removed dozens of checkpoints Saturday that were set up around Manhattan after finding no evidence that terrorists had brought a "dirty bomb" into the city.
Police say the threat of a dirty bomb was 'unsubstantiated' and 'unverified,' but the response was emphatic.
No one was allowed to pass without being checked at various points along major traffic routes.
Police officers with radiological sensors scanned cars, mail trucks, city buses, and any vehicle that could transport dangerous cargo. There was also aerial surveillance, plus extra sensors on police patrol boats in the city's rivers and harbor.
Terrorism experts say it may be a hoax, but for America's enemies, it accomplishes a goal.
"It's a cheap way to disrupt us," said terrorism expert Randy Larsen. "Life is going to be more difficult in New York City today. Traffic will be more difficult. It's something for al Qaeda to do, even if they have no capability whatsoever."
First word of the threat came from an Israeli-based web site quoting an alleged American member of al Qaeda predicting attacks in New York, Miami and Los Angeles, however police there made no changes to their normal security measures.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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