Camden Police Department Will Be Eliminated

[kytwell 179]

A New Jersey city with a persistently high crime rate and a yawning budget deficit plans to eliminate its police department.

The city of Camden, often described as one of the country's most violent, will lay off its entire force of 270 cops and instead rely on a reorganized county unit to patrol its streets, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The switch is expected to save millions for the financially burdened city near Philadelphia, but critics have slammed it as a backdoor attack on unions. The new Metro Division of the Camden County police won't have collective bargaining , according to Fox News.

Revamping local law enforcement comes as Camden is on pace to set an ignominious record for the most shootings and murders, NPR said.

Layoffs in the city department start this month and less than half can expect to get a job with the county., Fox reported. The force would become defunct at the end of the year.

The financial woes engulfing Camden that forced it to slash its police department have been a stubborn symptom of the city's dysfunction. Last year, 167 officers got pink slips.

The diminished force was overburdened with major crimes that that they had to stop responding to minor car accidents, petty thefts and vandalism.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/26/camden-police-department-replaced-metro-department_n_1831638.html

[X Factor 1,112]

It's about time they do something different. That place has been a zoo for quite a while. But I doubt this move will lessen crime.

[^_^ 5,021]

Camden PD is ineffective. I doubt the county police will do much better though. Generally county cops here don't see much action so aren't really cut out to patrol the hood.

Hand Camden over to the NJSP and impose a complete media blackout for a week. Tell the NJSP ... what happens in Camden, stays in Camden - for a week. Now go do your thang.

[slim 1,530]

Hand Camden over to the NJSP and impose a complete media blackout for a week. Tell the NJSP ... what happens in Camden, stays in Camden - for a week. Now go do your thang.

Why not just hand it over to the citizens of Camden?

I'm always amazed we spend millions of dollars a year in metro areas for police departments to operate. We should encourage citizens to take charge of their own communities so crime wouldn't happen in the first place. What we have now is people who simply "stay out of it because it aint their job. The po-lice supposed to be doin that."

The beauty of accountability is that it's free.

[^_^ 5,021]

Why not just hand it over to the citizens of Camden?

I'm always amazed we spend millions of dollars a year in metro areas for police departments to operate. We should encourage citizens to take charge of their own communities so crime wouldn't happen in the first place. What we have now is people who simply "stay out of it because it aint their job. The po-lice supposed to be doin that."

The beauty of accountability is that it's free.

A society that is essentially controlled by drug dealers can't be given control of itself. You need an outside force to disrupt their internal dynamics first.

[X Factor 1,112]

Sometimes the cops that are gettng laid off, terrorise the city. It happened in Newark when they laid police officers off. Crime went up and some of these police was involved to make the point that they are needed.

[^_^ 5,021]

Sometimes the cops that are gettng laid off, terrorise the city. It happened in Newark when they laid police officers off. Crime went up and some of these police was involved to make the point that they are needed.

I'm not surprised. Although Newark is so much nicer today than it was a decade ago!

[X Factor 1,112]

A society that is essentially controlled by drug dealers can't be given control of itself. You need an outside force to disrupt their internal dynamics first.

It will become a third world ruled town run by gangsters if allowed to govern itself.

[^_^ 5,021]

It will become a third world ruled town run by gangsters if allowed to govern itself.

Of course, you could legitimize the drug trade then those 'gangsters' become 'businessmen' like Rmoney and they too can then run for president

[kytwell 179]

This is being done for budgetary reasons, not to help combat crime any more or any less.