By Erin Delmore
Correspondent
“We’re not going to arrest our way into a better Camden, and that really holds true for any challenged community,” said Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson.
That’s the message Thomson took to Washington, D.C. this week in a meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan. Thomson is the president of the Police Executive Research Forum — a think tank that boasts 4,000 of the nation’s top law enforcement officials as members.
“It was an extremely positive meeting. Speaker Ryan is a very intelligent individual, detail-oriented. He had a lot of very interesting and poignant questions, which showed me that he gets it,” Thomson said.
Thomson’s police force is known for its commitment to “community policing” — hailed by President Obama as a national example amid national turmoil over policing standards.
“I was very proud as a police chief to know that the speaker of the House was aware of the work that the men and women here do on a daily basis. Particularly from a community policing aspect and one of the questions he asked, also one that the president asked when he was here, was, ‘How do we replicate this out?'” Thomson said.
Around 30 percent of all fatal officer-involved shootings involve people who don’t have firearms, many of whom are mentally ill, according to the Police Executive Research Forum. But Thomson says his officers are using less force and less deadly force in situations where they may be justified to do so.
“But we’re creating an environment where they don’t have to use their firearm,” Thomson said.
Earlier this year, Camden officers trained to interact with people with autism. Officers rely on an expanding K-9 force to detect narcotics. And the county utilizes a booming drug court, where certain offenders are court ordered to undergo treatment in lieu of a prison sentence.
“If our officers can operate in the role of community builders actually before law enforcement officers, we can have much better outcomes,” Thomson said.
Thomson says his officers view themselves as guardians, not warriors. A resounding message after police shootings of unarmed civilians sparked protests and riots in Ferguson, Baltimore, Cleveland and St. Louis. The Chicago Police Department is the latest to be placed under federal oversight.
“This is a watershed moment in policing. You know, it’s one in which we can’t take lightly and change is always occurring and you can either be the author of that change or you can have it put upon you,” Thomson said.
Thomson said he doesn’t expect much by way of protests in Camden tied to the inauguration this weekend, but he said anyone who chooses to make a political statement lawfully will have his department’s full protection.