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It's more complicated than that. They disbanded the entire department -- breaking the police union in the process, and then hired far _more_ (but somewhat lowe
by bpodgursky 6y ago
It's more complicated than that.
They disbanded the entire department -- breaking the police union in the process, and then hired far _more_ (but somewhat lower-paid) police than before.
The new, larger, but reformed department has done dramatically better than before. So there's really something for everyone -- breaking the union was important, _increasing_ funding was important, but also increased de-escalation training helped.
- oivey 6y agoI think that was Camden, not Newark.
- throwawaysea 6y agoAs another comment noted, that was Camden. There’s also more to that story - the city significantly stepped up its surveillance of public spaces (https://www.insider.com/inside-camden-new-jerseys-high-tech-police-control-center-2021-2 https://www.insider.com/inside-camden-new-jerseys-high-tech-...). Personally I think using technology to ensure public safety, with the right safeguards to prevent government abuses, is both acceptable and very possible. However, the anti policing activists are now against the Camden model - they initially held it up as evidence that defunding works but quickly changed opinion when more details came out (that funding simply shifted to the county level). You can find an example of arguments against Camden’s surveillance model at https://jacobinmag.com/2020/07/camden-new-jersey-police-reform-surveillance/ https://jacobinmag.com/2020/07/camden-new-jersey-police-refo...