State Troopers Patrolling City
Sixteen state troopers began patrolling Camden on Friday to help police curb violence that included a record 60 homicides in 1995.
Gov. Christie Whitman last month ordered the troopers to this desperately poor city on the Delaware River across from Philadelphia. After a briefing at a command post near the waterfront, the troopers made their presence known by pulling out in a convoy of eight squad cars.
Word spread as the troopers fanned out cross the 9-square-mile city of 87,000.
“Camden really needs it,” said Yvette Rivera, 29, a lifelong resident. “It’s too much drugs and violence.”
After having more homicides per capita than any other New Jersey municipality last year, Camden had its first killing in 1996 on New Year’s Day.
“We are trying to get a handle on what is going on,” said acting Camden County Prosecutor Joseph F. Audino. “It’s important that we take back the streets.”
State troopers have patrolled the city twice before - in 1989 and from 1992-94 - and made some difference, but only temporarily. As the violence in Camden escalated last year, the city again sought outside help.
A task force of county, state and federal agents was formed in December to conduct drug and gun raids, set up roadblocks, enforce alcohol laws, target car thieves and investigate unsolved cases. The troopers are part of that all-out effort.
“It will assist the overworked police department we have,” said Police Chief Bob Pugh. The stepped-up police presence will allow residents to live “without the fear that has permeated the city.”
Pugh said his 338-member department has struggled to answer service calls. Last year, Camden, the fifth-poorest city in the nation, recorded about 3,600 domestic violence incidents alone, the most in the state.
“We need additional resources to cope with what we have to cope with daily,” Pugh said. “We are asking for all of the assistance we can get.”
The inability of local police to cope with a violence-wracked city is not unique to Camden.
In October, Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh ordered 50 troopers to Gary after the homicide rate surged. After a gradual reduction, the troopers left Gary in December.
State police Col. Carl Williams would not disclose how many troopers have been assigned to Camden or how long they will remain. Other state officials have said the deployment is not expected to last more than six months.
The troopers, pulled from their regular duties, will patrol high-crime areas during peak hours.