“Defund the police” means very different things depending on who you talk to, as does “disbanding” a police department, as Minneapolis has said it will.
Camden, NJ, disbanded their police department in 2013, then formed a new one. Here's what happened ...
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Camden, NJ, disbanded their police department in 2013, then formed a new one. Here's what happened ...
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I went to Camden last week, which used to be a byword for urban decay and crime.
Violent crime there is down by almost 50% since 2013. In 2012, there were 67 murders. This year just three so far.
Camden is a long way from perfect, but this is a major improvement.
Violent crime there is down by almost 50% since 2013. In 2012, there were 67 murders. This year just three so far.
Camden is a long way from perfect, but this is a major improvement.
How did they do it? The main step was disbanding the city police department and starting again as a county department.
This shift allowed them to cut a lot of the time-servers and older cops who weren’t likely to adapt.
This shift allowed them to cut a lot of the time-servers and older cops who weren’t likely to adapt.
They created a new doctrine of force and committed to long-term community policing.
“It was hard at first,” lieutenant Gabe Rodriguez told me. “People didn’t want to open the door, we went through some rough times. But over time, they started to realise — we’re here for them."
“It was hard at first,” lieutenant Gabe Rodriguez told me. “People didn’t want to open the door, we went through some rough times. But over time, they started to realise — we’re here for them."
Rodriguez, 37, is tipped to be police chief one day. He grew up in a Camden housing project and was stopped & searched as a kid.
“Every interaction I had with police growing up was negative,” he recalled. “So we try to make people’s first interactions with police positive.”
“Every interaction I had with police growing up was negative,” he recalled. “So we try to make people’s first interactions with police positive.”
Camden police parked ice cream vans on drug corners. Held bbqs. Built basketball courts. Left their patrol cars and walked the streets. Built relationships with community leaders.
None of this rocket science, but makes a difference if done over a sustained period of time.
None of this rocket science, but makes a difference if done over a sustained period of time.
All of this required talented and committed leadership, primarily from police chief Scott Thomson, recently retired. It also required political support, from the state attorney general and others.
So when it came for Camden to march for George Floyd, new police chief Joseph Wysocki *asked* Yolanda Deaver, who was organising the march, if he could join in.
“It was a little surreal, but amazing,” Deaver told me. “It set an example for the whole nation.”
“It was a little surreal, but amazing,” Deaver told me. “It set an example for the whole nation.”
This is what Camden’s Black Lives Matter march looked like 
