Camden, New Jersey is planning on laying off it's 267 unionized police force and replacing them with 400 non-union County police officers...
“We’re concerned, we’re definitely concerned,” Camden Fraternal Order of Police President John Williamson told NBC News. “You’re going to create a police department and staff it with people who are unfamiliar with the city and say, ‘Go ahead and fight crime.’ That’s a recipe for disaster.”
I hope they follow up on this story to see exactly what effect this move has on crime in the city. I remember when Buffalo disbanded the Housing cops. D.A. Frank Clark got on television and predicted chaos and anarchy in the projects. We're still waiting for this to occur.
I'm not surprised cities are starting to look at different ways to do business. It's already happening with the schools. All you have to do is look at the popularity of charter schools. They are basically a union-busting enterprise. Don't trust the people who run these schools. Their main goal is not education, but profit. Since they pick and choose what students to keep, of course they do well on test rankings. I've worked in a charter school. They treat their teachers like slaves and teacher morale is terribly low.
As far as Camden goes, I don't think this move will cause more crime. I believe the cause of most crime is poverty. It seems like most police forces are reactionary anyway. In other words, they are called after a crime has been committed. In any event, expect to see more stories like this throughout the next decade as communities look for ways to save money and avoid collective bargaining agreements.
I don't think this would ever happen in Democratic led Buffalo. However, if it did, you'd see a lot of For Sale signs going up in Orchard Park and Hamburg. I wonder if the new police officers would be eligible for cosmetic surgery benefits?
One of most dangerous cities in US plans to ditch police force
