New police statistics show total crime - violent and nonviolent - plummeted nearly 30 percent in Camden, N.J., in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same quarter in 2013.

There were three fewer homicides, dropping the total to 10, reflecting a 23 percent drop compared with 13 during the same period last year. Assaults with a firearm plunged 45 percent, Philly.com reports.

For decades, Camden has been plagued by crime and frequently earned the unfortunate title of “America’s Most Dangerous City.”

Last May, a newly formed Camden County Police Department took over from the disbanded Camden City Police Department. So the new statistics are based on one quarter under the new force and are compared to the same quarter under the old force.

The new force implemented crime-fighting devices such as license-plate scanners, a full deployment of 160 “eye-in-the-sky” cameras, and other high-tech equipment that remotely monitors whole swaths of the city.