GEOFF MULVIHILL

Layoffs deter law enforcement

Police in Camden and four other New Jersey cities hit hard by police layoffs are making fewer arrests for minor offenses — a trend that experts fear could lead to a rise in the most serious crimes.
"People are committing crimes and they're not suffering the consequences for it," said Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk. "I think it has emboldened those who are committing the crimes. They do not get arrested and, consequently, they continue committing these crimes."
An Associated Press analysis of municipal court data shows that when police are laid off, department priorities shift: Arrests and summonses of all kinds drop, with enforcement for minor crimes and traffic violations suffering the most as police focus their remaining resources on more serious offenses.
The strategy may make sense in the face of declining state aid and precarious local tax revenue. But experts say it leaves a troubling gap in law enforcement.
Drug dealers in North Camden have become more brazen since the layoffs, said a 61-year-old day care employee who didn't want to give her name for fear of her safety. "You chase them out of your steps and they go for five minutes. Then they're back again."
Denise Skinner, 51, who lives in the Waterfront South neighborhood, is frustrated as she sees drug dealers continue to man their corners.
"It's getting worse," she said. "We don't have enough cops."
Violence has increased across the city this year, although criminal justice experts caution against pinning the jump on the layoffs.
On Friday afternoon, gunfire erupted in the city's Fairview section, injuring one man and drawing concerned residents from their homes.
"It's crazy. It's drugs all night and all day," said one man watching from his stoop as Camden police milled around a front yard in the 1200 block of Merrimac Road, where the shooting occurred. That man also did not want to give his name for fear of retaliation. With 48 homicides through Friday, Camden is already well above last year's total of 39. The figures include all deaths ruled a homicide by the prosecutor's office, including police-involved shootings.

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