Police layoffs make crime-plagued Camden all the worse

Just last July, Mayor Dana Redd declared Sixth Street, a block over, a “safe corridor” that police would patrol heavily to beat back the corner drug trade. That was before crime-ridden Camden — the poorest city in New Jersey and a byword for urban failure — cut its police force nearly in half to balance a $26 million budget deficit. After losing millions in state aid and unable to gain concessions on a union contract, the city laid off 300 employees last month including 167 cops and 60 firefighters.http://usat.ly/fiqgVp