Camden approves fast-track hiring for police

Facing a drastically understaffed police force in Camden, state officials yesterday approved an expedited hiring process to put 25 new officers on the street by the end of the year.

But in a departure from the past, a city councilman says it's unlikely that any of them will be Camden residents.Though the department has 360 officers, only about 290 are active - about 150 fewer than six years ago. Police Chief Scott Thomson last month called the staffing level "critically low."

Yesterday, the New Jersey Civil Service Commission voted into effect a program proposed by the state Attorney General's Office to hire 25 officers who already have taken a police training course at their own expense. The starting salary will be $33,000.

Attorney General Anne Milgram has set a goal to increase the Camden force by about 80 officers, spokesman David Wald said.

Fifty will be chosen from a pool of Camden residents who will be put through the traditional six-month Camden County Police Academy beginning in January, Camden Police Inspector Mike Lynch said.

Documents show that 178 Camdenites on the department's waiting list have shown interest in being selected. Many have attended orientation sessions and submitted to background checks.

In the program approved yesterday by the Civil Service Commission, applicants for the 25 fast-track hires need only be New Jersey residents.

The voluntary "alternate route" training program in Camden County cost the hires $2,000 out-of-pocket, said Earl Coxson, the Police Academy director.

Councilman Gilbert "Whip" Wilson said he doubted that any city residents would have had the funds to pay for their training. Wilson, a former city police lieutenant, said the city normally pays $600 per officer to put candidates through the traditional police academy.

"I doubt very seriously somebody from Camden is on that list," he said of the pool for fast-track hires.

While he was happy to see 50 new jobs going to Camdenites, he said hires from elsewhere "may have a different perspective on the citizens who live here, which may cause additional problems."

"We have to take a long, hard look at who these people are," he said.

City Council has grappled this year with the city's requirement that those who apply to the Camden Police Department must have been Camden residents for at least a year.

In May, Council unanimously rejected an ordinance introduced by then-Chief Operating Officer Theodore Z. Davis that would have dropped the residency requirement, saying it would take jobs away from Camden applicants and put officers on the street who lack understanding of the city.

In response, Wilson introduced an ordinance approved in July that would have extended the residency requirement to three years. Milgram urged rejection of that ordinance in a letter to Davis, who vetoed it before his sudden resignation.

Last month, after a closed-door meeting with Milgram in which she assured them that she would support hiring officers, Council agreed on an ordinance to prioritize police applicants in descending tiers: city residents, county residents, New Jersey residents, and all other qualified applicants.

That hierarchy applies in the fast-track system, but Wilson said it wouldn't matter if there weren't Camden residents among those who had paid for their training. Coxson said Camden County's 20-week "alternate route" class typically seats between 25 and 30, but he was unsure how many participants lived in the city.

Council President Angel Fuentes said that the urgency of the police shortage overrode concerns about where the officers live.

"We can't have any more discussion. We need police officers," he said. "I believe it was a good compromise coming from the state Attorney General's Office."

Hope Cooper, executive director of the Civil Service Commission, said it was the first time the commission had approved such a plan.

"It most likely will not happen again," she said. "This is a dire situation."