ALBANY - The New York State Office of Homeland Security and the New York State Police today announced the expansion of an upstate program to enhance state and local law enforcement’s capabilities to detect and interdict radiological material before it can be used in a weapon by would-be terrorists.

The program was launched last September in Erie County. Tuesday’s announcement of its expansion into Central New York was made at the New York State Fairgrounds in Onondaga County, where law enforcement officers from the State Police, Syracuse Police Department, and Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department were undergoing training with radiological detection equipment.

In fiscal year 2007, New York’s 12 accredited local public safety bomb squads were provided a total of $1.4 million of funding from OHS through the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention program.  Locally, the Onondaga County unit received a grant of $99,000, and the City of Syracuse received a grant of $110,000. These funds will help local bomb squads enhance their bomb disposal capabilities, expand training and exercise opportunities, and purchase state-of-the-art equipment to prepare for and respond to threats or incidents involving Weapons of Mass Destruction.