By David Cruz
Correspondent
The start of the Memorial Day weekend can conjure images of sun and surf, but away from the shore this holiday weekend, things were not quite so postcard perfect. A weekend of violence around the state’s urban centers left a trail of dead and injured bodies that suggest the beginning of a long, hot summer. Ten people shot in Jersey City over the last six days, including two teens over the weekend. In Newark, a gas station owner shot and killed in broad daylight. In Elizabeth, two shootings this weekend. And, in Camden, 10 homicides in the month of May.
Police will tell you that summer is their busiest time of year, and from Newark to Camden the season has gotten off to a fast start. Residents say they’re counting on police to keep the peace, but that, so far, optimism is in short supply.
“We’re getting out the first chance we get,” said Shafiq Smith of Camden.
On Mount Efraim Avenue in Camden, just blocks from where a 28-year-old man was shot and killed in the middle of the afternoon this weekend, Smith has had enough of the violence and crime in the city where they grew up.
The county says they have a new police force that is supposed to be making things better. Does Smith feel any safer?
“Um, there’s no difference. They got to change their policies as to how they’re going about it. They might need to attack it from a different angle,” he said.
That much-hyped consolidated police force here has been getting generally good reviews, even from residents, but this year, the statistics tell a slightly less positive tale. The 10 homicides in May bring the number for the year to 23. That’s compared to a total of 10 at this point, last year. Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson admits the city is still facing significant challenges.
“In all of our efforts, we’ve never put the claim of success on anything; it’s always progress. Many times, what we’re seeing are symptoms of much deeper-lying issues that we’re working with collectively as a team for economic redevelopment, bringing in jobs,” he said. “We’re working hard with the community to try to get in front of it. It’s promising that we are seeing a significant increase in the cooperation we’re getting from the community. Our solve rate is up over 50 percent now, particularly with some of these familiar homicides, which is sometimes it’s the best you can ask for in these situations.”
That is a sobering admission in a city frequently at the top of the national list in murders per capita. Thomson says despite staffing issues, the department deploys into hot zones when they crop up, and we did see some police at Mount Efraim Ave today. Still, residents here say, sheer numbers is not enough.
“If you don’t understand your community then you’re not going to understand the problem. Most of these cops, they’re not even from the city, so they don’t understand the problem because they’re not from here; they never had to deal with it,” said Janiya Crippen of Camden.
“It’s not working. There’s more cops, but it’s not working. If you pay attention, you drive around, you see them, all laid back, on their phones. They’re not doing their jobs. They don’t care because they’re not getting paid enough, so they don’t care what’s going on,” said Camden resident Dali.
“The way we’re going to make this city safer is not an outside in fix; it’s an inside out, and we’re not going to polarize the community by militarizing neighborhoods to try to get in front of crime,” Thomson said.
It’s the fine line between peacemakers and occupiers, with the law-abiding public often stuck in the middle, hoping that that things get better before school’s out and the summer starts to really heat up.