NEW YORK, NY January 11, 2008 —REPORTER: It's hired 20 new inspectors and exterminators to comb neighborhood "hot spots" that have been known to attract rats and record any sign of rodent activity into a hand held computer.

Assistant Commissioner for Environmental Policy, Dan Kass, says the new system will allow the Health Department to teach people what in their community is attracting rats in the first place.

KASS: We're gonna put educational materials in their hands to help them think not just about what they can do as individuals or as property owners, but also as community members. To try to improve some of the conditions that really contribute to rats.

REPORTER: The pilot program will begin in the Bronx and cost roughly $1.5 million. If successful, it will expand throughout the city.