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As reported by nj.com, Camden officials are now working on plans to have the Camden County government take over the city’s police force. Camden County’s Board of Freeholders approved the concept last week. City officials had already signed on.

The parties have until September 30 to submit a detailed plan for review by the state’s Division of Local Government Services. If the merger happens, Camden would be the first New Jersey city covered by a county police department.

Union officials object to the merger. However, county officials hope a countywide force would offer better coverage and lower costs for taxpayers. So far, Camden is the only municipality to sign on. None of the suburbs have expressed much interest.

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As reported by nj.com, strapped by recession and plagued by rising violence, some New Jersey police departments are about to get a little help from Washington. The U.S. Department of Justice announced state municipalities will receive $6 million in federal grant money to bolster departments thinned by deep cuts to city budgets.

“This funding will help New Jersey police departments to fund special task forces to combat the violence that is plaguing our cities,” said U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, who personally petitioned Attorney General Eric Holder for the grant money, citing Newark and Camden as the most in need. “I am so pleased that the Department of Justice has released these urgently needed funds which will help to ensure the safety of our citizens.”

Newark laid off 163 police officers last year in a citywide downsizing not seen since the 1970s. Camden lost half its police force when it laid off 168 officers. It has since hired back 75, but still has one of the highest crime rates in the nation.

How the money will be distributed has not been determined, but the decision will ultimately be up to Governor Chris Christie as well as a formula dictated by the Department of Justice.

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As reported by nj.com, Camden’s police director has resigned just one month after he was appointed to the $100,000-a-year position. Mayor Dana Redd said she had accepted “with much regret” the resignation of Lanuel J. Ferguson.

Camden’s City Council had refused to confirm Ferguson’s appointment. Council members said Redd hired him without their consent. They argued that his salary could be better used for hiring back patrol officers laid off by the cash-strapped city.

The 59-year-old Ferguson is a former high-ranking officer in the New Jersey State Police. Redd hired Ferguson primarily to represent the city’s interests in an ongoing effort to create a regional police force for Camden County. Police Chief Scott Thomson was to continue running the department’s day-to-day operations while Ferguson focused on finances and strategy.

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As reported by nj.com, crime in Camden is on the rise following deep cuts to the police force earlier this year. An analysis of crime data by The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill finds violent crime was up 13 percent from January 1 through June 20 compared with the same period a year ago.

The rates were also higher than in the first half of 2008 and 2009. Assaults with guns have been particularly high, up 60 percent from last year. The newspaper also found nonviolent crime up by 21 percent so far in 2011.

Experts caution not to blame just the layoffs, which shed nearly half the city’s police force amid a budget crisis in January. Since then, some officers have been hired back.

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As reported by nj.com, Camden officials say they are using a $4.3 million federal grant to rehire 19 police officers. The southern New Jersey city, which ranks among the nation’s poorest and most crime-ridden, laid off 167 officers-nearly half the force-in January as it struggled with a budget crisis. 

The City was able to hire back 55 officers a month ago under a deal with Governor Chris Christie’s administration that provided $2.5 million in state funding to keep them on the payroll through July 1. Mayor Dana Redd has said she expects they will be retained under the new city budget that takes effect on that date.

The 19 additional officers were sworn in on Monday. The City received the funding through a U.S. Justice Department COPS Hiring Program grant.

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As reported by nj.com, Governor Chris Christie and State Senate President Stephen Sweeney will speak with elected officials from Camden County about the benefits of consolidating local police and fire departments. The meeting will take place March 23, 2011 at Camden County College and is closed to the public and media. Christie is scheduled to meet with reporters afterward. 

No New Jersey county has gone as far as mass consolidations of its public safety forces, though smaller combinations are becoming more appealing in some places amid a government budget crunch. The discussion is timely in Camden County because the City of Camden recently laid off nearly half its police officers and the county prosecutor’s office is facing deep layoffs in coming weeks.

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As reported by nj.com, Camden Mayor Dana Reed says her crime-ridden city will rehire 50 police officers and 15 firefighters two months after deep layoffs to public safety departments. Reed announced that she will use $2.5 million paid to the City by the South Jersey Port Corp, plus federal grants, to bring back the officers through the summer.

The quasi-state agency announced it would make the payment late last year after skipping a larger payment it owed the cash-strapped city government. Reed said she would use it to stave off layoffs. However, she said she would not do so unless unions for public workers made concessions first. She reversed course, rehiring workers without concessions. Crime has been up since January, when nearly half the police force was laid off.

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As reported by nj.com, more than 40 city firefighters and police officers rallied around City Hall this morning in Camden, demanding Mayor Dana Reed bring back some of the laid off public safety employees that were let go earlier this year. Nearly half the police force and one-third of firefighters were laid off earlier this year.

The protest was organized over the weekend, after a firefighter was burned in a house fire on February 25, 2011. Union officials blamed the incident on delayed response time. Meanwhile, police say they were busy trying to handle three separate shootings, including one homicide.

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On October 2, 2008, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey decided the case of Figueroa v. City of Camden. In the case, plaintiffs, Camden firefighters who were on the eligible list for promotion to captain, alleged employment discrimination on the basis of race on account of defendants’ refusal to promote using the existing list and the announcement of a new test and new requirements. 

The Court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against all defendants because plaintiffs failed a file a complaint with the EEOC. Moreover, plaintiffs’ claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983 were dismissed because nothing in the pleadings indicated the unions were acting under color of state law, despite plaintiffs’ contention that the unions conspired with the other defendants to deprive them of their rights. Finally, the §1983 claims against the New Jersey Department of Personnel, its director of selection services, and the Camden chief operating officer were also dismissed because plaintiffs failed to identify any specific acts on their part that violated plaintiffs’ federally protected rights. 

This case illustrates the importance of following the procedural requirements in filing an employment discrimination lawsuit as well as recognizing the elements required to sustain a successful cause of action. Employment discrimination lawsuits against governmental entities contain a myriad of procedural and substantive hurdles. As a result, public safety officers who intend on bringing such a cause of action should seek out competent, experienced legal representation in order to ensure their rights are protected. Without obtaining such representation, it is likely the claims will fail, either procedurally or substantively.      

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