This week Camden is in the national spotlight yet again. Last time it was because the city had finally slipped from #1 to being the #2 most dangerous city in the United States. This time, Camden is breaking into the news cycle based on its apparent desire to not be satisfied with the #2 spot. Camden will be digging deep this week and making massive cuts to its local budget, slashing the police force by half and the fire department by a third. It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that in no time, with this effort, Camden will once again be able to claim the title of #1 Most Dangerous City. But not so fast, Save Jerseyans. I am not so sure that this will be such a bad thing.
Camden will be slashing 383 government jobs across the board this week barring any change in negotiations with the unions, who don’t seem to want to budge on their contracts. As per usual, it is more important to the union that hundreds of their members enter the unemployment line rather than have a job that would be more sustainable long term. So, as a result, one forth of the entire city workforce gets slashed. But Camden, at least in a population sense, has been a shrinking town for years now. While aid from the state and the federal government has grown since the 1990’s, an obvious Democrat strategy of throwing money at other Democrats to solve a problem that goes far deeper than funding, the population continued you fall and corruption continued to rise. Of the last 7 Camden City Mayors, 3 of them have ended up behind bars for corruption related crimes. Money had come in from all over New Jersey and was mismanaged by dimwitted convicts who were put into place by a political machine that merely uses the city as a conduit for jobs at the expense of its taxpayers (and I will remind you all, that since state money has been flowing to Camden for years, we are ALL Camden taxpayers). Then came Governor Christie.
Chris Christie is cutting Camden off over the next four year to force the city to be more self sufficient. Many on the left are, of course, seeing this move as cruel and destined to be a failure. Those critics obviously have blinders on and refuse to look at the failure we already have in front of us. Something needed to change, and now it will, out of necessity.
No one likes to read a headline that a dangerous city is going to lose half of its police force, myself included. I go to law school in Camden, I drive into that city at least twice per week for class, and would be completely dishonest to say that I am not at least slightly worried about the prospect of less cops being around. However, I think that fear may have more to do with irrational notions than reality. There has never been a real correlation between number of police officers and amount of crime. Those rates often have far more to do with poverty levels and an area and the style of law enforcement employed. And there are some very encouraging statements coming from the police and other groups that seem to indicate that nothing noticeable will be changing in any meaningful way.
Police Chief Scott Thompson has said that no changes will be made to the current patrol routines for his officers. Instead, the department will be making internal changes to ensure that all patrols are maintained at current levels. When I read this the first thing I thought, and that you should think too, is that if these patrols could be maintained with a slimmer police force, then why wasn’t this done years ago? This efficiency could have allowed for more transitional cuts from state aid rather than such an immediate and abrupt public relations nightmare that this cut has become. Unfortunately, this is likely to go back to the mismanagement of the city by its government.
Additionally, Camden will be receiving some outside help, but not in the form of deep pockets or blank checks. The Camden County Sheriffs Department will be stepping up operations in the city to back up the city police force. The anti-crime volunteer group, Guardian Angels, will also be working in Camden to increase safety in the streets. This consolidated effort, which would not likely have ever been offered had these cuts not taken place, could actually be a net positive for the city, with ideas coming from a diverse set of groups and departments that could improve efficiency and procedures for law enforcement in Camden.
Camden has had 80 percent of its budget subsidized by state and federal funds for far too long. No one can contend with the idea that now is as good a time as any to create a more self sufficient city. Without the spigot flowing, Camden will have no choice but to make itself more attractive, at least in its somewhat safer waterfront and higher education districts, for businesses that could increase economic activity and economic opportunity for residents. If the Camden workforce can be trimmed and services not be lost, as the police chief seems to indicate, then there is no reason to keep the excess spending going. Just as all other cities are learning to do more with less, Camden should not be a special case where we go against the laws of economics and common sense.
I am becoming loathe of this Washington Monument Strategy that is pulled over and over again by politicians, championed by the media and fallen for by the public. What programs aren't being cut in Camden so they can grab headlines by firing police? Newark spent millions on park and Library upgrades and fired how many police officers? Bloomberg has plans to close NYC fire houses and 6 to save money but left 47 million for a shark tank at the Brooklyn Aquarium in his budget. This is more of the same Grab headlines and try and bilk tax payers out of more funds to mismanage by crying that there aren't enough police. Maybe keep the cops firefighters and loose the waste folks. The Police and Fire Fighters deserve to be treated honestly and with respect by those in power and not used as a piece on a chess board to try and grab more money from the hardworking taxpayer of NJ.