Camden Police Union Fights Dismantling of Agency

The president of the union representing Camden (N.J.) Police officers promised to fight a plan to layoff the entire force and form a county police agency, calling the initiative "ill-conceived."

"This plan, this takeover, of the Camden Police Department is ill-conceived, baseless in fact, and has nothing to do with the safety of the people of Camden," John Williamson, the president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1, told a crowd of supporters.

Mayor Dana Redd on Wednesday announced a plan Wednesday in which Camden's 270 police officers could receive layoff notices by the end of the year. The department would be replaced by a countywide law enforcement agency with a 400-officer Camden Metro Police Division. No more than half of the city's 268 officers could be hired for the new division, reports NJ.com .

Related:

Camden To Replace Municipal Cops with County Officers