SmarterthanYou
rebel
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/06/166658788/crime-ridden-camden-to-dump-city-police-force
As the New Jersey city of Camden blasts through its all-time-high homicide record — exceeding 60 murders so far this year — city officials have an unusual solution to rising crime: laying off the entire police department.
Year after year, Camden ranks as one of the most dangerous cities in America based on several categories: murders, rapes, assaults and robberies. But the city says it's too poor to hire more police officers. So it's dissolving its municipal police force and letting the county set up a bigger, cheaper force to replace it.
Camden officials say it's the only affordable way to bring down crime, but critics call the strategy a deliberate move to bust the police union.
Now Camden has only 230 active cops to police this city of 77,000. And Thomson says even that is overstating his actual resources.
"Of the 230, on a daily basis, our average is a 30 percent absentee rate. It's a combination of calling in sick and using leave time," Thomson explained. "That puts us at 1930s staffing levels."
Still, Camden spends about 75 percent of its budget on its police and fire departments. But if a car accident doesn't result in injuries, the police won't show up. Attempted murder cases are withering without detectives to investigate. The city wants to hire more officers, but officials say the police union contract includes so many expensive benefits, they can't afford any more cops.
As the New Jersey city of Camden blasts through its all-time-high homicide record — exceeding 60 murders so far this year — city officials have an unusual solution to rising crime: laying off the entire police department.
Year after year, Camden ranks as one of the most dangerous cities in America based on several categories: murders, rapes, assaults and robberies. But the city says it's too poor to hire more police officers. So it's dissolving its municipal police force and letting the county set up a bigger, cheaper force to replace it.
Camden officials say it's the only affordable way to bring down crime, but critics call the strategy a deliberate move to bust the police union.
Now Camden has only 230 active cops to police this city of 77,000. And Thomson says even that is overstating his actual resources.
"Of the 230, on a daily basis, our average is a 30 percent absentee rate. It's a combination of calling in sick and using leave time," Thomson explained. "That puts us at 1930s staffing levels."
Still, Camden spends about 75 percent of its budget on its police and fire departments. But if a car accident doesn't result in injuries, the police won't show up. Attempted murder cases are withering without detectives to investigate. The city wants to hire more officers, but officials say the police union contract includes so many expensive benefits, they can't afford any more cops.