Camden, N.J., to lose nearly half its cops

Camden, N.J., to lose nearly half its cops

money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- There will be fewer cops patrolling the streets of Camden, N.J., come Tuesday.

Struggling to close a $26.5 million budget gap, the city with the second highest crime rate in the nation is laying off 163 police officers. That's nearly 44% of the force.

And Camden will also lose 60 of its 215 firefighters. Some people with desk jobs will be demoted and reassigned to the streets.

The mayor's office says that the cuts will not affect public safety.

"We're still going to protect our residents," said Robert Corrales, spokesman for Mayor Dana Redd. Public saf

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Have we really sank this far into debt,That we can no longer afford to pay Law Enforcement at the local level.How can a municipality be in such dire strights that they have to cut the Police Dept. in half?

Could not the mayor of Candem see this coming?.I'm sure budget concerns like these do not sneak up on you.Is this going to be like a dominoe effect that sends this country into a Mad Max/Road Warrior type society(I hope not).

Camden N.J. has a suffering crime ratre so how can they do a better job of protecting citizens with a slimmer Police force???

money.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

good news for earl hickeys associates...(my name is earl)

he live in camden county

Originally posted by okamitengu
good news for earl hickeys associates...(my name is earl)

he live in camden county

So does that mean crime is going to rise 44%?

Originally posted by okamitengu
good news for earl hickeys associates...(my name is earl)

he live in camden county

Different Camden County, but funny nonetheless.

This is Camden, NJ, a truly derelict city. Just over the Delaware River from Philadelphia.

This really isnt news to us locally, the city of Camden has always been in dire straights.
Consistently in the top 5 cities in the natin as far as crime rate goes.
The city government has at times been suspect, in fact for a time in the past the city was run entirely by the state government, and being the state of NJ, it wasnt very much better off.

Many police forces in NJ have been laying off heavily in the past year or so. I know a few Camden cops, not sure if they have been affected or not.

The men and women of the Camden police force have always had an upward battle in terms of crime, and I feel for their families which will now suffer the economic crunch. Bad enough that when the officers were working an overnight shift, their families had to fear whether or not they would come home alive, exacerbated by the recent killing of a cop in nearby Lakewood NJ, now they have to multiply that by trying to figure out how they are going to pay the bills.

Sad.

reply to post by alchemist2012


I think your Government is giving the people a CLEAR sign of what they think is important,
and it aint you.....

Defence and security don't see budget cuts..
Government employees are on the rise overall...
Donations to foreign powers haven't been cut...

I do not feel one bit sad.
For decades, we have been adding to our police forces, yet have seen nothing but rising crime.
Any time an increase in LEO is seen, the only reality we see is an increase in revenue, meaning, tickets.

The day I see an increase in officers result in a decrease in actual crime reduction, I will applaud it it.

Until then, F*** * m,
Sincerely,
Mike.

No Star, No Flag!

Originally posted by Oaktree
I do not feel one bit sad.
For decades, we have been adding to our police forces, yet have seen nothing but rising crime.
Any time an increase in LEO is seen, the only reality we see is an increase in revenue, meaning, tickets.

The day I see an increase in officers result in a decrease in actual crime reduction, I will applaud it it.

Until then, F*** * m,
Sincerely,
Mike.

No Star, No Flag!

edit on 18-1-2011 by Oaktree because: (no reason given)

The problem with that theory is the ones they cut will surely be the ones looking after serious crime..
There's no way they will cut their "revenue raising" traffic cops..

reply to post by backinblack


Dont know if you've ever been there, but there are not exactly alot of traffic cops.
Outside of an odd parking ticket, Ive never heard of someone getting a traffic ticket in Camden.

Simply crime is too high and not enough time.

who knows, maybe it will have a minimal affect in relation to the crime rate percentage rising. possibly because people will commit whatever crime they want to whenever they want to despite the number of police that work in that state. (not that they would think about that in a normal situation)

note: current N.J. population as per the cencus beuraue (give or take due to the fact that it's not quite up to date)
8,707,739 - Jul 2009
Source: quickfacts.census.gov...


couldn't find the total number of employed state officers let alone from county to county but its possible that the general population wildly outnumbers them.

That is great. Let the people of NJ have concealed weapons permits. Arm the citizens and let them take justice when need be. Governor Chris Christie is doing his best with a POS state. Maybe this will be a thinning of the police squad and only the best will keep their jobs. The cops don't stop crime anyway. They are there to *take the report* screw them. Let them get a factory job. Or mall security..

Camden NJ is disgusting!!! I can not even describe it with words. You cannot go into that city with your windows down and doors unlocked at any time of day. There are gang bangers, drug dealers and hookers on every corner. The cops in that city are busy all the time with violent crime and drug trafficking. They are not sitting on their asses eating doughnuts, they have too much to do. I lived 8 miles from this city in NJ, and the only time I would come close is to cross the Ben Franklin bridge into Philadelphia. Everyone knows if you're going to Camden, you're going there for no good. It is a huge mistake to take the cops out of Camden.

Originally posted by RustyShakleford92
Camden NJ is disgusting!!! I can not even describe it with words. You cannot go into that city with your windows down and doors unlocked at any time of day. There are gang bangers, drug dealers and hookers on every corner. The cops in that city are busy all the time with violent crime and drug trafficking. They are not sitting on their asses eating doughnuts, they have too much to do. I lived 8 miles from this city in NJ, and the only time I would come close is to cross the Ben Franklin bridge into Philadelphia. Everyone knows if you're going to Camden, you're going there for no good. It is a huge mistake to take the cops out of Camden.

With the strange times we live its not good to take cops out of anywhere

reply to post by alchemist2012


I agree here, Camden is not the place you want to go with a lessened police force.

But to address the post that you commented on, Camden is not as bad as people make it out to be.
There are 4 colleges within its borders, a very nice concert venue, a very nice baseball park and a few theatres that offer some quality shows.

The crime in many of the unsavory parts of town though....the post hit the nail on the head.

reply to post by youdidntseeme


Well ok, maybe I had the balls once a year to go to the Susquehanna Bank Center and catch the Ozzfest
It has a nice aquarium, yes the River Sharks stadium. You wander one block off though and you can be in deep trouble... and I feel bad for the kids that go to Rutgers in Camden. I would feel trapped inside the campus. Cooper Hospital is also one of the best hospitals in the area as I understand, but lies in the middle of Camden .

I think the city's hopeless to be honest.

Its kinda funny............I have never been harressed by gangbangers, hookers or drugdealers................wish I could say the same about the cops

Jersey is there anything they don't turn into trash? Dodges fist pumps and flying bricks. Point proven, honestly that state needs psychological counciling to live up to it's Saprano roots.

The phenomenon is happening all over the country.States and local municipalities are on the verge of insolvency. In an environment where unemployment continues to rise, and with that, an increase in assaults, robberies, and murders are bound to occur. It makes sense to look at the budget and go line by line to cut other things to free up the necessary funds to keep law enforcement officers on the job, and maintain other essential services. I suppose the going wisdom is to let the thugs kill each other off, but among the criminals are law abiding people trying to work and provide for their families. Why do the police take the cuts and we hear nothing of the Mayor, the city administration, or local elected officials cutting some of their dead weight?

Another grim trend with all of this is how it will affect the local economy, because if the criminals are given the keys to the city it will drive away future investments in the city of Camden and elsewhere. Nothing makes sense anymore, and it seems everything is going to the dogs. It seems the only business set to boom in this economy is the one run by the criminals, and if this disturbing trend continues; the people who have the unfortunate circumstance of having to live and work in Camden should probably think about getting the hell out of Dodge?

They're playing games and intend to rely more heavily on the state police, who are stretched thin and already do too much locally around those parts, and who in turn are also needing more funding and bodies. But my bet is that this is overall a power play on the heels of being declared the worst crime area in that FBI report. A powerplay that may fail, but I guess it's worth a try. Pretty much the same thing happened in St Louis, didn't it? And backfired? More crime...less cops. Illogical but, hey, cities are going broke.