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An Anonymous Coward writes:
Camden, New Jersey is a very low income neighborhood. According to this NY Times article, until recently it had typical low income policing--heavy on corruption and violence and low on compassion.
But now they have a new chief and things have changed --
"Handing a $250 ticket to someone who is making $13,000 a year" — around the per capita income in the city — "can be life altering," Chief Thomson said in an interview last year, noting that it can make car insurance unaffordable or result in the loss of a driver's license. "Taxing a poor community is not going to make it stronger."
Handling more vehicle stops with a warning, rather than a ticket, is one element of Chief Thomson's new approach, which, for lack of another name, might be called the Hippocratic ethos of policing: Minimize harm, and try to save lives.
Officers are trained to hold their fire when possible, especially when confronting people wielding knives and showing signs of mental illness, and to engage them in conversation when commands of "drop the knife" don't work. This sometimes requires backing up to a safer distance. Or relying on patience rather than anything on an officer's gun belt.
While not out of the woods yet, it sounds like there is hope for Camden and maybe it won't just continue to be written off as a war zone.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Monday April 03 2017, @10:11PM (2 children)
a start on the road back to Mayberry
Lovely turn of phrase. Can I borrow it sometimes?
Treating people with compassion and empathy, plus engaging in communication... Not treating tickets as an income stream, but evaluating how they truly impact the community
AKA "policing as it should be done". Not just hope for Camden, but for everybody.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday April 04 2017, @03:53AM (1 child)
Sure, borrow it anytime.
Yes, it does give hope for policing done sanely in the U.S
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Tuesday April 04 2017, @04:40AM
it does give hope for policing done sanely in the U.S
And on this side of the pond - some of ours are OK, but a lot need to return to people school.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.