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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: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday April 04 2017, @05:08AM
As it stands now, police are crazy criminals in uniforms who deserve to be put down immediately, preferably behind the house. Or dragged out of their homes and curb-stomped.
When I was growing up in NYC, we considered the cops to be just the best armed street gang. Not really sure how much that's changed, except there are fewer of the other street gangs these days.
What's more, I've noticed (although I am white, which makes a huge difference of course) that the NYC police are actually a lot better then many other places I've lived/visited. Which is a rather depressing thought. Sigh.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr