Thaindian News

Jan 18 (THAINDIAN NEWS) As of today, there were fewer police officers patrolling the streets of Camden, New Jersey, as the city with the second highest crime rate in the nation struggles to close a gap in the budget worth 26.5 million dollars. There will be one hundred and sixty three police officers laid off by the city, which adds up to about forty four percent of the force.

In addition, Camden is also losing sixty of it’s two hundred and fifteen firefighters as well. Some of those who currently have desk jobs are to be demoted and sent back into the streets. The mayor claims that none of this will affect the safety of the public on these streets. Robert Corrales, who is a spokesman for Mayor Dana Redd stated, “We’re still going to protect our residents. Public safety will remain our top concern. We’ll shift our resources to be more efficient with what we have.”

But the police officers and firefighters unions argue that, of course, taking out a good chunk of both departments will have a major impact on the city. The president of the Fraternal Order of Police, John Williamson in Camden says, “It’s absolutely physically impossible to cover the same amount of ground in the same amount of time with less people. Response times will be slower.”

Williamson went on to say that even of the response time is just a few minutes slower, it is often just a few minutes which mean the difference between life and death, between the total loss of a home in a fire, or between the “bad guy” being caught or escaping.

And not only is the news bad for the safety of the public, but for the devoted officers and firefighters who are losing their jobs, income, insurance, and pensions. Camden is by far not the only city to make this choice and cut their public safety officers. Newark recently let go of one hundred and sixty seven police officers, and Huntington Beach, California has slashed a million dollars from their budget by cutting back on it’s police force. Many other cities across the United States are taking the same route, leaving citizens living in the fear that their ‘911′ calls won’t be answered, and criminals with the knowledge that they have even less to worry about. With gun control laws under scrutiny, citizens are becoming even more determined to arm themselves in an effort to fill the gap left by these missing public service officers.