By
GEOFF MULVIHILL,
Associated Press
Geoff Mulvihill,
Associated Press
Tue Jan
18, 2:01 pm ET
CAMDEN,
N.J.
Some firefighters
turned in their
helmets and police
officers their
badges Tuesday
as part of deep
municipal layoffs
destined to further
erode the quality
of life in Camden,
already one of
the nation's most
impoverished and
crime-ridden cities.
About 335 workers,
representing one-sixth
of the local government
work force, lost
their jobs, according
to Mayor Dana
Redd. It was worst
in the public
safety departments,
where nearly half
the police force
and close to one-third
of the city's
firefighters were
laid off.
Laid-off firefighters
walked eight blocks
together from
the police union
hall to Fire Department
headquarters,
snaking past City
Hall, then lined
up their helmets
in front of the
building, picked
them back up and
started to turn
them in along
with their other
gear.
"It's one
of the worst days
in the history
of Camden,"
said Ken Chambers,
president of the
firefighters union.
Redd blamed the
public safety
employee cuts
on their unions,
saying they have
not been willing
to make job-saving
concessions or
accept the reality
that the state
government will
no longer bail
out the city as
it has for the
past two generations.
[Rewind: College
girl named police
chief in drug
cartel capital]
"Instead
of protecting
and serving the
city, the residents
of Camden, they're
choosing to protect
their high salaries,"
she said.
The mayor said
she was willing
to continue negotiating
with unions to
try to reach cost
savings that would
allow the city
to bring back
some of the laid-off
workers.
Redd said a proposal
to the rank-and-file
police union,
the Fraternal
Order of Police,
was to be voted
on Wednesday.
She would not
say exactly what
the proposal entailed
or how many jobs
it could save.
But she said that
if the unions
agree to concessions,
about 100 police
officers and most
of the firefighters
could be brought
back.
Chambers said
residents should
not expect to
be safe as the
number of fire
companies is reduced.
He said the union
will continue
to meet with city
officials to try
to reach a deal
under which some
firefighters could
be brought back.
Police officers
had begun turning
in their badges
Monday as it became
clear that no
last-minute deal
was going to save
many jobs.
Located directly
across the Delaware
River from Philadelphia,
Camden is rampant
with open drug-dealing,
prostitution and
related crimes.
More than half
of Camden's 80,000
residents, mostly
black and Hispanic,
live in poverty.
A local pastor
says "the
fear quotient
has been raised,"
and a police union
took out a full-page
newspaper advertisement
last week warning
that Camden would
become a "living
hell" if
layoffs were not
averted.
The city was
the nation's second-most
dangerous based
on 2009 data,
according to CQ
Press, which compiles
such rankings.
Camden ranked
first the previous
two years. In
2009, the city
had 2,380 violent
crimes per 100,000
residents
more than five
times the national
average, the FBI
said.
The anti-crime
volunteer group
Guardian Angels
says it will patrol
Camden, as it
has Newark, where
there were major
police layoffs
in November.
The Fire Department
has already been
relying on help
from volunteer
departments in
neighboring towns.
Interim Fire Chief
David Yates, who
retired Jan. 1,
has warned that
that layoffs will
increase response
times.
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