On Tue, 9 Jun 2020 13:30:19 -0700 (PDT), Ed Stasiak
Adam H. Kerman
Ed Stasiak
So how does that work? You shitcan all the experienced veteran cops
and replace them with what, wet-behind-the-ears high school graduates?
They keep citing Camden New Jersey's totally corrupt city police force.
They all got fired in 2012 and were forced to re-apply to be county
sheriff's police.
Yeah, seems to be working out great for them
https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/nj/camden/crime
Camden, NJ crime analytics. With a crime rate of 54 per 1000
residents, Camden has one of the highest crime rates in America
compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest
towns to the very largest cities. One's chance of becoming a
victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 19.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3214507/Boarded-buildings-bullet-ridden-walls-Pictures-dark-underbelly-one-America-s-dangerous-cities.html
How bad is Camden New Jersey?
Camden is the most dangerous city in New Jersey, where your
chances of becoming a victim of crime are one in 13. Bullet
holes pictured here are evidence of the fact that there are
nearly 2,000 violent crimes committed in this small city every
year, and 57 of those are murders.
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-jersey/nj-dangerous-places/
How dangerous is Camden NJ?
Camden is not only the most dangerous city in New Jersey, it
is one of the most dangerous places in the United States. The
city's crime rate is four times higher than the national average.
Those articles you posted are 5 years old. At any rate, they didnt get rid
of the police force. They simply created a new one that's done a better
job.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/disband-police-camden-new-jersey-trnd/index.html
(CNN)Last week, Minneapolis officials confirmed they were considering a
fairly rare course of action: disbanding the city police department.
It's not the first locale to break up a department, but no cities as
populous have ever attempted it. Minneapolis City Council members haven't
specified what or who will replace it if the department disbands.
Camden, New Jersey, may be the closest thing to a case study they can get.
Minneapolis City Council members intend to defund and dismantle the
city's police department
Minneapolis City Council members intend to defund and dismantle the city's
police department
The city, home to a population about 17% of Minneapolis' size, dissolved its
police department in 2012 and replaced it with an entirely new one after
corruption rendered the existing agency unfixable.
Before its police reforms, Camden was routinely named one of the most
violent cities in the US.
Now, seven years after the old department was booted (though around 100
officers were rehired), the city's crime has dropped by close to half.
Officers host outdoor parties for residents and knock on doors to introduce
themselves. It's a radically different Camden than it was even a decade ago.
Here's how they did it.
Why departments dissolve police
A city's decision to dissolve its police department is often a matter of
money -- and the cities that chose to do so are often quite small. Camden
comes closest to Minneapolis in its size and history of misconduct.
Earlier this year, the village of Deposit, New York, dissolved its
department because it cost $200,000 per year. Now, a single sheriff's deputy
is assigned to the village, CNN affiliate WICZ reported. Garden City,
Missouri, laid off all of its officers and suspended its police chief
because, as its mayor said in 2018, the city couldn't afford to keep them
employed.
In a bizarre move, Rio Vista police leadership abruptly left the department,
and half of the remaining officers left for other jobs, so the California
city's department could no longer go on, CNN affiliate KCRA reported in
January.
Lt. Zack James of the Camden County Metro Police Department marches along
with demonstrators in Camden.
Lt. Zack James of the Camden County Metro Police Department marches along
with demonstrators in Camden.
Camden dissolved its police department to root out corruption.
The city's crime rate was among the worst in the US. Within nine square
miles and among nearly 75,000 residents, there were over 170 open-air drug
markets reported in 2013, county officials told CNN. Violent crime abounded.
Police corruption was at the core.
Lawsuits filed against the department uncovered that officers routinely
planted evidence on suspects, fabricated reports and committed perjury.
After the corruption was exposed, courts overturned the convictions of 88
people, the ACLU reported in 2013.
So in 2012, officials voted to completely disband the department -- it was
beyond reform.
And in 2013, the Camden County Police Department officially began its
tenure. No other city of Camden's size has done anything quite like it.
How the new Camden police changed its approach
City officials had two objectives in remaking Camden's police: reduce
crippling violent crime and make residents feel safer.
Louis Cappelli, Camden County freeholder director (another term for a
county-level public official), said the department still has a ways to go,
but its efforts over the last seven years have been largely successful.
"Back then residents of Camden city absolutely feared the police department
and members of the department," he told CNN. "They (the residents) wanted
that to change."
Violent crimes have dropped 42% in seven years, according to city crime data
provided by the department. The crime rate has dropped from 79 per 1,000 to
44 per 1,000, the data shows.
A Camden County officer grills hot dogs for one of the department's
pop-up neighborhood parties.
A Camden County officer grills hot dogs for one of the department's pop-up
neighborhood parties.
Cappelli credits the improvement to new "community-oriented policing," which
prizes partnership and problem-solving over violence and punishment.
It starts from an officer's first day: When a new recruit joins the force,
they're required to knock on the doors of homes in the neighborhood they're
assigned to patrol, he said. They introduce themselves and ask neighbors
what needs improving.
Training emphasizes deescalation, he said, and the department's use of force
policy makes clear that deadly force is the last option.
Now, police host pop-up barbecues and pull up in Mister Softee trucks to get
to know residents, Cappelli said. They host drive-in movie nights --
recently, the movie of choice was "The Lion King" -- along what used to be
known as the city's "Heroin Highway."
The community-first initiative has made improving diversity within the force
a priority, too. Whites are the minority in Camden, so Cappelli said the new
department has hired more black and brown officers to serve black and brown
residents. (Cappelli didn't have exact numbers for the increase, but said
it's improved.)
Cappelli said the new department also hired over 100 officers who previously
served the dissolved Camden Police Department. They joined the department,
which now employs over 400.
"We want to make sure residents of the city know these streets are theirs,"
he said. "They need to claim these streets as their own, not let drug
dealers and criminals claim them."
What Minneapolis can learn from criticism of Camden
Camden and Minneapolis aren't perfect mirrors. The Midwestern metropolis is
predominantly white -- 63% of the population -- and less than 19% black. In
Camden, less than a quarter of all residents are white, but 42% of the
population is black and over 50% is Latino.
Camden also has about 356,000 fewer residents.
The criticisms lodged at Camden, though, may inform how Minneapolis goes
about its restructuring.
Camden County police pose with residents outside a Mister Softee ice cream
truck.
Camden County police pose with residents outside a Mister Softee ice cream
truck.
Ojii BaBa Madi, a lifelong resident of Camden and Justice Minister at Asbury
Community Church, said he's felt no improvement in his relationship with
police because many of the new officers don't live in Camden or know the
community well.
Additionally, the department's racial makeup isn't entirely reflective of
the city it serves, he told CNN in an email.
"The demographics of the city do not reflect these demographics," he said.
"With a white chief, as thoughtful and progressive as he is, and only one
African American captain out of seven, both the dynamics and optics of race
are a problem."
What has improved, he said, is officers' willingness to have a "productive
dialogue" between police and community leaders like him. And the city "does
feel much safer at the neighborhood level" since police started shuttering
open-air drug markets.
As for abolishing police entirely, Ojii said the city is "far away from any
practical de-policed reality" partly because of the crime that still exists
there.
"I would prefer to nail some best practices for policing as it should be,"
he said, as the city -- and society -- figures out how to change law
enforcement as it exists now.
A Camden County officer plays basketball with a young resident.
A Camden County officer plays basketball with a young resident.
Nyeema Watson, also a lifelong Camden resident who's the associate
chancellor for civic engagement at Rutgers University -- Camden, said she
thinks the restructuring has had a largely positive impact. Officers are
more visible now, and they're building trust and welcoming feedback.
Camden County Police Chief Joseph Wysocki marched with Camden residents in a
"Black Lives Matter" protest in May. Hearing him acknowledge the "rightful
pain, anger and frustration" black residents feel about police brutality was
powerful, Watson said.
Watson and Ojii agreed the city's problems remain unsolved. Those require
more work than a shift in law enforcement alone can provide.
"We can't police our way out of social issues, unemployment,
disproportionate health issues, economic challenges -- these are things that
drive crime," Watson said.
When the city improves access to education for its residents, they'll better
understand systemic racism within law enforcement and how to dismantle it,
she said.
"There are so many issues in our city, outside of policing, that promote a
constant level of tension," Ojii said, naming gentrification, poverty and
addiction among them. "In essence, Camden remains a tale of two cities."
