This week in North Philly Notes, John Shjarback, author of Chasing Change in Camden, recounts the city’s efforts at police reform that contributed to significant crime reduction.
In 2012, Camden, New Jersey was under siege. There weren’t enough cops to patrol the streets of one of the most violent cities in the country. The year ended with 67 homicides, only 16% of which resulted in an arrest. To put that first number into context, if New York City experienced the same homicide rate as Camden did in 2012, there would have been more than 7,300 homicides. Instead there were 419 homicides that year. Camden’s homicide rate was more than 17 times higher than that of New York City.
Fast forward to 2024. Camden ended with 17 homicides, a 75% decrease from 2012. The city’s homicide clearance rate has also improved and ranged from 60% to 95% over the last five years. Chasing Change in Camden: Police Reform in One of America’s Most Violent Cities provides an in-depth examination of how these drastic changes were made possible, specifically through the dismantling of a sitting police department and creation of an entirely new agency from the ground up in 2013. It has been viewed as one of the greatest experiments of police reform in American history. And in the summer and fall of 2020, when the Minneapolis City Council debated whether to dissolve its current police department and start anew following the murder of George Floyd, this successful transition placed Camden and its new police department in the national and international spotlight.
The story of Camden is like that of many places throughout America. Once bustling with industry and well-paying manufacturing jobs, beginning in the 1960s and continuing into the 1970s Camden fell victim to deindustrialization, outsourcing, and white flight to the safer suburbs. The city is now 95% Black and Hispanic and suffers from extreme economic disadvantage.
Similarly, the Camden City Police Department was mismanaged, ineffective at addressing crime and violence, and experienced pockets of corruption among officers. Reform was nearly impossible despite a takeover from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office and while the city was under complete state control.
Progress on these fronts was finally made possible starting in 2013. During 2011 and 2012, the city, county, and state negotiated the end of the Camden City Police Department’s 141-year run and the creation of the Camden County Police Department (CCPD). May 1, 2013 marked the official start of the new department. Chasing Change in Camden presents the contentious, rigorous debate that ensued during this period and the changes that resulted.
By most accounts, the CCPD functioned more effectively and made inroads into addressing crime and violence. Just two years in, Camden received a visit from U.S. President Barack Obama, who sang its praises. But the new department was not without controversy. The city supplemented its new department with tremendous investments in technology, which were not always viewed favorably. Aggressive tactics and enforcement, use of force, and citizen complaints of excessive force drew the ire of community and activist groups as well as the media. CCPD, in a sign of a healthier organizational culture, course corrected and managed to address some of these concerns. Chasing Change in Camden details these organizational changes, including the use of innovative training and the revamping of administrative policies to better manage discretionary officer behavior.
Although the book is a case study of a single city and its transition from one department to another, it is couched in the broader discussion of police reform and accountability and public safety. Chasing Change in Camden discusses threats to the overall progress of reform and accountability efforts not only in the CCPD but in American policing more generally. It highlights the limitations of a police-centric approach to crime and violence, while recommending more collaboration and co-production of public safety with community groups and non-law-enforcement approaches.
Whether you are a police officer/leader, researcher, policymaker, reformer, activist, or simply a concerned community member, you will find valuable lessons in Chasing Change in Camden.
Filed under: african american studies, american studies, civil rights, cultural studies, economics/business, Labor Studies, political science, race and ethnicity, racism, sociology, Urban Studies | Tagged: accountability, Camden, city, community, corruption, crime, homicide, law enforcement, new jersey, news, obama, officers, Police, police reform, politics, public safety, violence | Leave a comment »
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