HAMBURG - The state is bolstering counterterrorism efforts upstate by equipping law enforcement officers with portable radiation detectors designed to alert them to potential dirty bombs.

“The detection and interdiction of illicit radiological material is a new component of policing in today's world,” acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton said Tuesday as he demonstrated the devices during a training exercise with F. David Sheppard, director of the state Office of Homeland Security.

Already in use downstate, the pager-like detectors are able to differentiate between harmful radiation and innocuous naturally occurring isotopes and those emitted by medical treatment or industry.

“Whatever it may be, we can determine in a fairly short period of time what it is,” Felton said.

Beyond terrorism investigations, the devices also could help detect improperly secured industrial radioactive waste being trucked for disposal. Commercial traffic units are among the first state troopers to receive the equipment, Sheppard said.

“This runs a whole gamut of everyday safety in an industrial community though the gamut of potential terrorist threat,” Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard said.

The portable units proved effective early on in New York, when a device assigned to a counterterrorism officer sounded as he drove into work earlier this year. The truck next to him turned out to be carrying an engineering tool that uses a small amount of radioactive material to measure soil density. It was deemed harmless.

More than 900 of the detectors have been deployed to New York City police officers. About 450 will be distributed upstate, each costing about $1,500 and paid for with various grants administered by the state Office of Homeland Security.

Troopers and sheriff's deputies in western New York began receiving the devices first because of the region's proximity to the U.S.-Canadian border, sports venues and industry considered to be appealing targets for terrorists.

A so-called dirty bomb could spread radiation by a conventional explosion but does not have a nuclear detonation. Experts believe such a bomb would not cause casualties beyond those affected by the explosion, but would be expensive to clean up and have a lasting psychological impact.

“We are very anxious to deploy the new technology,” Howard said.

The portable detectors, along with other new radiation detecting equipment, will be used during traffic patrols and events like Buffalo Bills home games which attract large crowds. It will replace older, less reliable equipment currently used.