Officials Say Crime On The Decline In Camden
By David Madden
CAMDEN. N.J. (CBS) - Camden County officials have pointed to a marked drop in crime in Camden since the county took over the city's police department.
Now, they have another benchmark to back up that claim.
The city pays $150,000 a year for ShotSpotter to be deployed on the streets.
What's ShotSpotter? Camden County freeholder director Lou Cappelli has the answer:
"They're microphones set up throughout the city to detect when a gun is fired. When a gun is fired, the device instantly dispatches police officers to the spot of the shot."
Cappelli says the company compared statistics from the first six months of this year to the same period in 2013:
"There's been a decrease by almost 50-percent of gunshots in Camden city. So it's clear that our county police force is having an immediate impact in the city.:
Homicides are also down year to date -- about two dozen now compared to 40 at this time last year.