That’s the news from Camden.
Though I should point out that were it not for the layoffs (almost half the department!), the chief would probably be boasting that homicides are down. But everything else is up, including shootings. Hmmm, maybe there’s a correlation between fewer cops and bad aim?
There's a similar story in New Haven. There's been a rash of shootings at a Dunkin Donuts, and the department has tried to deal with it by removing the chairs in the restaurant to reduce loitering and ask for early closing hours. But the last-in-first-out rules of layoffs have had a serious consequence, as one officer explained: “A lot of these disputes that end up in shooting [in public places] start on Facebook. … Many of the [recently] laid-off cops were young and they knew these kids. There is no substitute for relationships.”
New Haven Independent: newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/coffe_crueller_and_a_chair/#When:23:01:15Z