Progress slight, but notable

Was President Obama an unwitting dupe in a propaganda scheme to promote Camden's new police force? Or did his visit to that poor city last week reflect his belief that it is "on to something" in its approach to reducing crime? There's more reason to believe the latter.

Even as Obama cited reductions in the city's murder rate, violent crime rate, and number of open-air drug markets, he carefully acknowledged, "This is still a work in progress." Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson expressed the same sentiment, saying, "We still have a long way to go."

What Obama tried to stress, however, is that despite justified criticism of the police force's lapses, miscues, and alleged abuses, it is trying to fight crime in the best way possible in an urban environment - by walking the neighborhoods and getting to know the people who live in them.

Camden NAACP leader Kelly Francis has questioned how effective community policing can be when most officers live outside the city. But Francis raised the same question about the old police force, then as now citing a 1972 state law allowing officers to live outside the towns where they work.

Francis is right that community policing works best when police live in the community. But rather than forcing that by law, Camden could consider more tax breaks and other incentives for officers to live there. Of course, the best incentives are safer neighborhoods and better schools. Turn the city around in those areas and it will become a beacon.

More immediately, the Camden police must address allegations that overly aggressive officers are being abusive and issuing too many tickets for petty offenses. The "broken windows" theory that tolerating petty crimes opens the door to bigger trouble may be correct, but discretion helps build trust between officers and the people they serve.

Obama's speech got more media attention nationally for the announcement that the federal government will be more discerning about transferring military equipment to police departments. "We've seen how militarized gear can sometimes give people a feeling like there's an occupying force," he said.

His most important remarks, though, cited the underlying reasons for antipolice protests in places such as Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo. "If we as a society don't do more to expand opportunity to everybody who's willing to work for it, then we'll end up seeing conflicts between law enforcement and residents," he said. That means reducing poverty and improving education.