County police force is hard sell

As Camden County seeks to expand its police force beyond the city of Camden, the only place it patrols now, a hurdle has emerged: Most of the county's 36 other municipalities want no part of it.

Officials in those towns say replacing their police departments with one run by the county would erase their identity and the relationships between officers and residents. They also fear the county would send more officers into Camden, one of the nation's most dangerous cities, than into their towns.

"I think I'd be shortchanging my constituents," said John Foley, Haddon Township's public safety director.

The county also faces a much different task from that in Camden, where the former city police department was disbanded two years ago after state budget cuts caused mass layoffs, allowing homicides and other violent crimes to reach record highs.

It now has to persuade towns with less crime and more stability in their police departments to make a big change.

"It's a substantially different challenge," said Marc Pfeiffer, who participated in early discussions on the creation of Camden County's Metro Division when he was deputy director of the state's Division of Local Government Services.

The county's pitch is money.

It insists towns would save millions - recently, it estimated Pennsauken would save $30 million over six years - by switching to a county-run force.

"We are able to provide a superior product for all intents and purposes at a lower cost," county spokesman Dan Keashen said. The sharing of resources, such as detectives and K9 units, would also benefit other departments, he said.

Much of the cost saving, however, could come from pay cuts to police officers. In Pennsauken, the county has also proposed reducing the number of officers, which has elicited backlash from the rank and file.

In neighboring Camden, officials say having nearly 400 officers on the county force costs almost the same - $63 million - as having 300 on the old force.

The county envisions other municipalities paying for police services, much as Camden does.

A suburban division separate from the Metro Division that patrols Camden would also be established. Suburban division officers would be hired just for that unit and would respond to calls only within their area, not in Camden, the county has said.

The Inquirer reached out to every municipality in the county, and nearly all responded.

Some said they were willing to review the potential cost saving of a new force, to a point.

"I think you have to see what's being offered," said Woodlynne Mayor Jeraldo Fuentes. His borough, which borders Camden and has 3,000 residents, was approached last year.

Ed Figueroa, the borough's public safety director, said he met with county officials three times. The first was in Camden, where he talked to Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. and Police Chief Scott Thomson. Figueroa said Thomson showed him the department's camera surveillance system.

A second meeting, Figueroa said, was held in Cappelli's office, and the last was in Woodlynne, where Thomson and his staff asked about the borough police force's size and operations.

"It would be just as good as we have it now," Figueroa recalled as the county's pitch for expanding into Woodlynne.

But the borough - still wary from a troubled shared-services agreement with Collingswood - decided against it.

Collingswood police patrolled Woodlynne's streets until 2010, ending the arrangement after a bitter dispute between the two municipalities over police and other resources. The year before the contract ended, Collingswood Mayor Jim Maley called shared-service agreements "a poison pill."

In a recent interview, Maley said that state-mandated budget controls had since made shared services more appealing, and that he expected other towns to join the county force because maintaining a police department often takes up a large portion of municipal budgets. (In Laurel Springs, the only full-time employees are police officers.)

"I think that something like that is certainly a very real possibility down the road," said Maley, who is also friends with Cappelli, who has pushed for an expansion. Cappelli did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Some municipalities were quick to dispel rumors about joining the county force.

"What works well in other towns is good for them, but it's definitely not an option here," Cherry Hill spokeswoman Bridget Palmer said.

"Heck no," said Chesilhurst Police Chief Wendell Smith, who said he was surprised any town had expressed interest.

"You want to keep your own identity," Smith said. The six officers in Chesilhurst, which has 1,600 residents, are on a first-name basis with the community, and one officer volunteers to help children with homework, Smith said. In Oaklyn, Mayor Bob Forbes said some officers coached youth sports.

Both are connections with residents Forbes and Smith said they didn't want police to lose.

Keashen, the county spokesman, said no other municipalities had joined the county force yet because many were taking a "wait and see approach."

"Since we've been able to build a track record over the past two years, I think there has been more interest," he said.

Keashen and other officials have touted a sharp reduction in Camden homicides, from 67 in 2012 to 33 last year - though the number of police officers is also higher than it was in 2012.

In neighboring Pennsauken, where nearly 150 officers and their family members protested the idea of a county-run force last week, police received a report that estimated switching to a county department would cost the township $51 million to $57 million in the next six years, as opposed to $86 million with the current force.

The county paid law enforcement consultant Jose Cordero - who helped create the county force in Camden - $36,100 to produce the report. Pennsauken Mayor Rick Taylor has since tried to calm public anxiety about the proposal.

"Everything that shines isn't necessarily gold," he said in an interview last week. "So that's the attitude that we'll take until we come up with some constructive questions."