Candidates Teddy Liddell, Winston Extavour, Ian Gill and Rob Stone feel the force has failed to rein in crime.
CAMDEN -- Camden is a rough place and the formation of the county police force tasked with protecting it has done little to help shake off the reputation as one the country's most dangerous locations.
That's what four Republican candidates running for freeholder claim, citing a 2015 survey and saying the all-Democratic freeholder board "wrestled control" of the police department from the city and that it should be reverted back.
"Turn it back over to local control," campaign manager Steve Kush said Tuesday. "People who live here know best," he said of the county force that was formed in 2013 and saw an attempt earlier this year at expanding into Pennsauken fail.
Candidates Teddy Liddell, Winston Extavour, Ian Gill and Rob Stone feel the force has failed to rein in crime. According to figures provided by Kush, murders in 2009, 2010 and 2014 -- 34, 37 and 33, respectively -- show no noticeable improvement over time.
RELATED: Camden County police reboot deserved vote
Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen had serious reservations about the survey and sources the platform used, as murders, fatal shootings and other types of violent crime have been on the decline since 2012, according to figures provided by the county that were updated to reflect information as recent as July 19.
"The transparent manipulation of public safety statistics is offensive, sad and disappointing and should eliminate any individual who participates in such actions from public office," Keashen said Wednesday.
The NeighborhoodScout.com study of 2014 figures, which is cited by the Camden County Republicans, states those in the city had a one in 39 chance of becoming a violent crime victim.
The city had 1,550 violent crimes total in 2014, per New Jersey State Police (NJSP) data collected for the Uniform Crime Report. Those totals were 1,885 and 1,848 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. According to figures provided by the county, there have been 13 fatal shootings thus far in 2015. The 2014 total topped out at 28.
Kush said Wednesday that citydata.com, a website that offers loads of demographic information for locations across the country, was used when collecting murder totals. Camden County officials felt statistics verified and published by a law enforcement agency, such as the NJSP, should have been cited.
"Camden was considered the most dangerous city in America before the all-Democrat freeholder board wrestled control of the police department from local government and obviously nothing has changed," Extavour, a Haddonfield-based attorney, said. "It's time to end this experiment and give control of the police department back to local government."
The approximate cost to run the former city force in 2011 stood at $84 million. That figure dropped to $62 million following the layoffs and the 2015 budget for the county police department was $63.4 million. The increased budget for the force of around 400 personnel came as a result of salary demands, new civilian positions and data analysis officers, to name a few.
Kush called to question taxes raised to help fund the force, however Keashen countered that only the city and state kick in to pay for Camden County Police Department operations.
"Camden County residents pay nothing for the county police force," he said, adding that "Distressed Cities" transitional aid funding from the state is used to close the gap between city funding raised by a local tax levy.
Allied Barton security guards, hired in 2014 under a $3 million contract, help relieve duties of police officers by assigning more to high-activity zones. Keashen said that the county looked at best practices put to use elsewhere -- like University City, in West Philadelphia -- to station security guards in sectors of commerce.
"By hiring an outside private security firm at a cost of $3 million to be the 'eyes and ears' of the county police force, the freeholders have admitted they're in over their heads on this," said Stone, who added that local control would be first on the candidates' agenda if elected.
"(Police Chief Scott Thomson) talks to (Mayor Dana Redd) on an almost daily basis," Keashen responded when asked about city input on operations of the county force. "In short, the state's Republican Governor and the Democratic President of the United States have held up the Camden County Police Department as a model for policing throughout the nation, which undermines any and all statements made by these politicians," he added Wednesday.
Asked how he interprets the county force continuing to patrol just Camden City, Kush said, "It says we're right."
"The takeover of the Camden City police department was nothing more than a union-busting power grab. They were sure to hire back only up to 49 percent of the old force which forced cops to form a new union completely ignoring any collective bargaining agreements made previously," Kush said.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
