Plan Aims To Provide Security Blanket Against Terrorist Attack

CBS | August 12, 2008

NEW YORK (CBS) - The NYPD is working on a plan to track every single vehicle that enters Manhattan.

The initiative, called "Operation Sentinel," is aimed at preventing terror attacks. With the use of cameras and radiation censors, police plan to track anything and everything that enters the Big Apple.

The New York Police Department wants to photograph the license plates of every vehicle coming into Manhattan and keep the image and information in a database.

The proposal is part of a multimillion dollar plan to secure lower Manhattan. It includes cameras, license plate readers and radiation detectors.

They would be set up at 7 vehicle crossings, which include 4 tunnels and 3 bridges: 

-The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel 

-Holland Tunnel 

-Lincoln Tunnel 

-Queens-Midtown Tunnel 

-George Washington Bridge

-Henry Hudson Bridge

-Triborough Bridge

Smaller bridges like the Willis Avenue and Macombs Dam will also be included in the proposal.

It is unclear exactly when "Operation Sentinel" would be complete, but the lower Manhattan initiative part of the plan to secure the city's financial area, is expected to be in place by 2010.

If after a month a registered license plate number is of no use to the police, it will be erased from the system.