Inside Camden, one of America's most dangerous cities

[웃 910]

Inside Camden, one of America's most dangerous cities

'We don't have any real policing in Camden. They're just out here to pick up the bodies': Inside America's most dangerous cit

y

It was once a bustling industrial town but now, broke and stripped of resources, danger lurks around every corner.

Drug-related murders plague Camden, New Jersey, where 44 per cent of residents live below the poverty line, the highest rate in America.

In the last decade crack houses have sprung up amid the boarded-up factories and burned out houses.

Grinding poverty: Inside a crackhouse in Camden, New Jersey

Nothing to do, nowhere to go: A man lies on the sidewalk next a 'No loitering' sign

People live in fear of being robbed or shot as addicts roam the streets looking to fund their habit.

According to the AroundPhilly blog on Yahoo, one resident said: 'We don't have any real policing in Camden. They're just out here to pick up the bodies.'

The violence has got so bad that on Thursday New Jersey's top law enforcement official met with leaders in Camden following calls for drastic state intervention.

State Attorney General Paula Dow was scheduled to meet with Camden Mayor Dana Redd on Thursday morning and later with Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk.

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• 'We don't have any real policing in Camden, They're just out here to pick up the bodies.' Inside one of America's most dangerous cities

Redd spoke to the Attorney General on Monday night after masked robbers killed a 46-year-old store owner and shot and injured three others inside the store, the Asbury Park Press reports.

The killing was the 16th in the city since October 1 and the 48th in 2011.

Abandoned: A former restaurant that has been turned into a crackhouse

No go: Residents object to the cameras on a street where windows are boarded up with wood

Some officials believe the crime problem has spiralled out of the control this year after more than 100 police officers were laid off in January.

On Tuesday, City Councilman Frank Moran asked Redd to declare a state of emergency and call for the National Guard to be brought in.

The annual CQ Press rankings, which were released on Wednesday and are based on 2010 data, named Camden the second most dangerous city in the country. Try telling that to locals. For much of the decade it was named number one.

Danger everywhere: A man extracts copper from electrical wires while a woman sits in a burned out house

Flint, Michigan, topped the list, with Detroit at number three and St. Louis coming in fourth.

Camden topped the list in 2004 and 2005, dropped to No. 5 for two years after that and edged up to No. 2 in 2008 before reclaiming the most-dangerous rank in 2009.

The shooting at the store on Monday night came just hours after protesters met up outside City Hall to speak out against the recent explosion of violence.

In the shadow of Philly: Camden rots with Philadelphia in the background

No-hope-ville: Empty bottles of liquor and broken glass litter the side of a road in Camden

Jose Bello, an organizer on behalf of Camden's many bodegas, said business owners across the city are planning to close their shops for an hour next Tuesday afternoon.

They plan to meet at a rally at Camden City Council to support a resolution that would call on Redd to declare a state of emergency.

Mr Bello said: 'There has to be a change. We got to do something with this problem.

'People are pretty mad. The mayor has to come up and say something.'

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[zubi 2]

hmm yea i live 30 minutes away from Camden ... !!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

In Vermont we let anyone carry a concealed handgun and do not have this problem. No permits needed, anyone can do it, even visitors. Perfectly safe to walk the streets day or night anywhere. Even ask for change for a $100 bill.

Why would that not work in Camden?

[웃 910]

In Vermont we let anyone carry a concealed handgun and do not have this problem. No permits needed, anyone can do it, even visitors. Perfectly safe to walk the streets day or night anywhere. Even ask for change for a $100 bill.

Why would that not work in Camden?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics

Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology (and especially in the subfield of demography), public policy, andmarketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location. Demographic trends describe the historical changes in demographics in a population over time (for example, the average age of a population may increase or decrease over time). Both distributions and trends of values within a demographic variable are of interest. Demographics are about the population of a region and the culture of the people there.

Criticisms and qualifications of demographic profiling

Demographic profiling is essentially an exercise in making generalizations about groups of people. As with all such generalizations many individuals within these groups will not conform to the profile - demographic information is aggregate and probabilistic information about groups, not about specific individuals. Critics of demographic profiling argue that such broad-brush generalizations can only offer such limited insight and that their practical usefulness is debatable. However, if the conclusions drawn are statistically valid and reproducible, these criticisms are not as well founded.

Most demographic information is also culturally based. The generational cohort information above, for example, applies primarily to North America (and to a lesser extent to Western Europe) and it may be unfruitful to generalize conclusions more widely as different nations face different situations and potential challenges.^[4]

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics

Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology (and especially in the subfield of demography), public policy, andmarketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location. Demographic trends describe the historical changes in demographics in a population over time (for example, the average age of a population may increase or decrease over time). Both distributions and trends of values within a demographic variable are of interest. Demographics are about the population of a region and the culture of the people there.

Criticisms and qualifications of demographic profiling

Demographic profiling is essentially an exercise in making generalizations about groups of people. As with all such generalizations many individuals within these groups will not conform to the profile - demographic information is aggregate and probabilistic information about groups, not about specific individuals. Critics of demographic profiling argue that such broad-brush generalizations can only offer such limited insight and that their practical usefulness is debatable. However, if the conclusions drawn are statistically valid and reproducible, these criticisms are not as well founded.

Most demographic information is also culturally based. The generational cohort information above, for example, applies primarily to North America (and to a lesser extent to Western Europe) and it may be unfruitful to generalize conclusions more widely as different nations face different situations and potential challenges.^[4]

So allowing people to carry concealed handguns changes the demographics of a state?

Which demographics cause Camden to be more prone to crime than Vermont? I mean, why do we not have rampant crime in the "old North End"?

Again, what I am proposing is that New Jersey implement a Vermont type concealed carry law and drop their homicide rate to .33 per 100,000 like ours. Think it will work? If not, why?

Answer that and you know what to do.

Edited December 10, 2011 by Gary and Alla

[웃 910]

So allowing people to carry concealed handguns changes the demographics of a state?

Which demographics cause Camden to be more prone to crime than Vermont? I mean, why do we not have rampant crime in the "old North End"?

Again, what I am proposing is that New Jersey implement a Vermont type concealed carry law and drop their homicide rate to .33 per 100,000 like ours. Think it will work? If not, why?

Answer that and you know what to do.

It won't work and I think the reasons are obvious.

Poverty, education, drug infestation, lifestyle, culture, upbringing, family structure, etc.

[Danno 1,228]

From Selma to camden.... it's rather sad.

Camden is not the exception, look at many other cites and if they are not there yet.... the tracks are greased for quick arrival.

Birmingham, detroit Phili Etc.

These once beautiful cities are swamped and in trouble by the black undertow , First White-flight then Black-flight as people who can..... flee what these places have become.

If Blacks do not take back their culture and communities a large portion of Black Americans will continue on this death spiral.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

It won't work and I think the reasons are obvious.

Poverty, education, drug infestation, lifestyle, culture, upbringing, family structure, etc.

Yeah, yeah. But here is the thing...the BAD people already have guns in Camden, obviously.

Do you think it would be WORSE if good people were allowed to have them?

[웃 910]

Yeah, yeah. But here is the thing...the BAD people already have guns in Camden, obviously.

Do you think it would be WORSE if good people were allowed to have them?

It would probably make things a little better. But it won't turn Camden into Burlington.

It's like providing education to a prison population. It will make them smarter but probably not comparable to a Harvard classroom.

[Danno 1,228]

Yeah, yeah. But here is the thing...the BAD people already have guns in Camden, obviously.

Do you think it would be WORSE if good people were allowed to have them?

Why do the good people need to own guns when a gun is just one phone call and 40 minutes away from arriving?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

It would probably make things a little better. But it won't turn Camden into Burlington.

It's like providing education to a prison population. It will make them smarter but probably not comparable to a Harvard classroom.

so why would they not do this immediately? It costs nothing and would make an improvement. Obvioulsy they would not be Burlington, why does it have to be?

Why do the good people need to own guns when a gun is just one phone call and 40 minutes away from arriving?

Bad cell service?

[Ban Hammer 13,395]

Why do the good people need to own guns when a gun is just one phone call and 40 minutes away from arriving?

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Yeah, yeah. But here is the thing...the BAD people already have guns in Camden, obviously.

Do you think it would be WORSE if good people were allowed to have them?

I would suggest relocating residents of Camden NJ to the utopia we know of as Vermont. Problem solved!

Edited December 10, 2011 by ready4ONE

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I would suggest relocating residents of Camden NJ to the utopia we know of as Vermont. Problem solved!

Of course! Because as soon as they crossed the state line they could carry concealed weapons. NOW you are catching on!

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Camden looks like another Detroit, Oakland, Washington DC, and South side Chicago.