Another Camden Murder Amid Concerns Of Recent Spike In Violent Crime
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) - The City of Camden recorded its 14th homicide of the year Thursday evening, with the shooting death of a 22-year-old man outside a funeral home during a viewing for his grandmother.
There are no leads or suspects in the death of Jonathan Vasquez, who was shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene on South 4th Street.
Half of this year's homicides have occurred in the last six weeks.
Police Chief Scott Thomson told KYW Newsradio some of the shootings stem from what he labels "vendettas," but beyond that "we're not seeing that this is part of a turf war or any type of burgeoning type of gang violence like that. We have people that have criminal histories in the drug trade. But many times these instances are rooted more in the culture of violence."
His plan to combat the problem? What's worked for the last couple of years in lowering Camden's overall crime rate: community policing.
"It's a philosophy and a strategy that we're not going to abandon," Thomson said. "In fact, we're going to double down. In a couple weeks, we have an academy class of 60 recruits that are graduating."
Those recruits will be deployed to troubled neighborhoods quickly to work with residents, which Thomson calls "the greatest force multiplier we have."