What the city where defunding police worked really tells us about it

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

With the nation’s attention now intensely focused on racial inequality and the systemic history of problematic policing, “defund the police” has become a new rallying cry for advocates pushing for reform.

Already, as Minneapolis and other cities weigh the move, people on both sides of the issue are pointing to examples of success and failure, looking to find data points — or worse yet, fears — to argue why defunding police could either be a good idea, or a terrible one.

And that debate has quickly brought to light the shining example and metamorphosis of policing in Camden, New Jersey, a city that was once among the nation’s most dangerous with a homicide rate equivalent to that of El Salvador before a funding upheaval and list of reforms resulted in the lowest murder rate the town had seen since 1987. Add to the fact that local police have accomplished as much with a noted drop in use of lethal force and the viral image of its Chief of Police marching hand-in-hand with protesters, and it’s easy to see why people are quick to look to replicate it.

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But digging deeper into how Camden was able to spark its amazing transformation reveals that substantive police reform has never been as simple as an issue of funding.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/camden-nj-where-defunding-the-police-worked-didnt-really-defund-the-police-105251107.html

[ahimsa]

1. Not sure it has a happy ending yet...

There’s a link to this story in the one you posted:
Camden has a ‘severe’ revenue problem, and N.J. tax-break projects aren’t helping, internal report says

Meanwhile, spending on Metro Police is nearly one-third (32.8 percent) of the city’s total budget, and has a “profound impact" on the city’s poor fiscal health, according to the analysis. The report notes that violent crime in Camden has fallen “markedly” since 2013, when the city’s old police force was disbanded and Metro Police, a division of the Camden County Police Department, was formed.

But as Camden’s police budget continues to increase 2 percent per year – and adds $2.4 million per year in “indirect costs" – its growth “compels the contraction of other vital city departments and services,” the report said.

Camden budgeted $68.45 million this year for police, compared with the $44.72 million police budget in Paterson, which has nearly double the population.