Gritty
N.J. city of Camden to scrap police department amid budget woes, By Perry Chiaramonte Published August 26, 2012 FoxNews.com
Crime-ridden
Camden, New Jersey - often referred to as the most dangerous city in the United
States—is getting rid of its police department.
In the latest
example of a cash-strapped municipality taking drastic measures to deal with
swollen public sector liabilities and shrinking budgets, the city plans to
disband its 460-member police department and replace it with a non-union “Metro
Division” of the Camden County Police. Backers of the plan say it will save
millions of dollars for taxpayers while ensuring public safety, but police
unions say it is simply a way to get out of collective bargaining with the men
and women in blue.
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“This is
definitely a form of union-busting," Camden Fraternal Order of Police
President John Williamson told FoxNews.com. “This method is unproven and
untested, to put your faith in an agency that doesn’t even [yet] exist.”
Camden County
Mayor Dana Redd has said layoffs of the city’s police force will begin by the
end of the month. Only 49 percent of current city police officers will be
transferred to the new county division, whose members will begin a four- to
five-month training program.
“There is a
crisis, but this is not the solution. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.” -
-Joseph Eisenhardt, president of the Camden County Police Chiefs Association
“The officers
who are getting laid off are going to have to be the ones who train their
replacements,” Williamson said.
The department
has been under the control of the state since 2005, when a power struggle between
then-Mayor Gwendolyn Faison and the department prompted Faison to ask the state
to take over. That arrangement is set to expire and New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie has thrown his support behind the transition to county control, which
he indicated will help keep costs down.
“A county
police force that has a reasonable contract, and that’s going to provide a huge
increase in the number of police officers on the streets here in Camden, is a
win for everybody,” Christie said at a recent event at Rutgers-Camden
University, where he signed a reform bill for higher education. “I’m willing to
put my name on the line for this concept.”
But Williamson
told FoxNews.com his organization understands the budgetary constraints the
city faces and said the FOP has made concessions such as dropping a shift pay
differential.
“We tried to
give them what they wanted, but they asked that we drop all and any lawsuits
that officers have against the city," he said, noting he personally has a
suit pending against the city's police chief.
Repeated
requests for comment to Redd’s office were not returned.
Earlier this
week, a meeting was held with officials from neighboring border towns for a
progress update and how the plan would affect their communities. A minor fracas
broke out when Chief Joseph Eisenhardt of the Barrington Police Department—a
town that does not border Camden—was denied access to the meeting, causing
police chiefs from eight other municipalities to walk out. While some suspect
he and the other chiefs were there to show solidarity with the Camden city
police, Eisenhardt said the county's other municipalities fear that Camden will
soak up all of the county police department's resources.
“The county’s
resources would be sent to problem areas like [the city of] Camden, taking away
from the patrolling of other towns in the county,” Eisenhardt said. “There is a
crisis, but this is not the solution.“It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
Perry
Chiaramonte is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @perrych
Comments
Camden County NJ is 227 square miles with a population
of 514,000.
I have no problem with dumping “union” city
police departments in favor of a “nonunion” county police department.
I agree that the County government is usually
the appropriate size for services like police and fire EMS.
These services are often used to gain voter
support for new city creation, but it is an emotional sell. Voters who buy into the need for a city to
have its own police and fire are wrong.
New city formation committees connect with voters on the emotional
Police issue because voters want their police to know them and know their
territory but that can be accomplished with a county police precinct in each
city.
Voters also want their police to have expert
CSIs and other capabilities more common in larger departments who are also
aware of suspects in the county.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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