Woodlynne public safety townhall meeting. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
Starting Sunday, September 1, the Camden County Metro Police Department will begin supplementing police patrols in Woodlynne, as the borough police department battles staffing levels that have dwindled nearly to zero.
Within a month thereafter, Woodlynne will turn over the entirety of responsibility for its public safety operations to Camden Metro.
How the 2,900-person community will navigate the transitional period until then was on the minds and in the mouths of those who attended a townhall-style meeting with Camden Metro Police Chief Gabriel Rodriguez Monday evening.
Residents had a variety of concerns, among them the cost and level of services that would be provided via Camden Metro Police, whether data transparency would be available about local crime and responses to it, and the professionalism of officers who would police the community.
Some residents were enthusiastic about the opportunity of partnering with the new agency and asked how they could help support its community policing model. Others were wary of officers involving themselves in neighborhood affairs. Still others were hopeful that a change in infrastructure would yield greater accessibility to law enforcement in a town that has only one officer on duty some days.
Rodriguez repeatedly described the manpower depletion in the borough police force as “scary,” noting plainly, “If the bad people find out that you don’t have the appropriate coverage, you guys are all targets.”
In the meantime, however, the chief said that Camden Metro officers are “already in communication” with Woodlynne police, and available to assist in “any significant gaps or concerns.
“Starting on Sunday, you’ll start to see more of us here,” Rodriguez said.
The first transitional month of policing could run the borough as much as $100,000 or more, the chief said. Annually, the department costs some $700,000 to $750,000 to run, although Rodriguez noted that its current, shorthanded roster racks up a significant amount of overtime that may account for those figures.
Future operations under Camden Metro could bring those totals up to as much as $1 million annually if the department reaches its full and proper staffing levels, the chief said.
Woodlynne residents participate in a townhall meeting about their policing services. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
Woodlynne won’t feel that financial impact immediately, at least. New Jersey Assemblyman Bill Spearman (D, NJ-05) said that state aid and grants for police and fire services will cover any shortfall to avoid a tax increase “for at least the next year.
“We have that planned out right now,” Spearman said.
“Had there been more time to prepare for this, we probably could extend that horizon.
“The object is to make sure that you’re safe,” he said. “Your taxes will not go up in the next year period, end of conversation, and we are working to make sure that they do not go up because of police and fire after that.”
In the first week of Camden supplementing Woodlynne policing efforts, Metro will add an officer and sergeant to Woodlynne shifts, and begin supervision of the department. In the second week, Rodriguez said Camden Metro Internal Affairs officers will begin oversight of the department “until we have full control.”
“After that, I will be rendering all discipline,” the chief said.
“We have already started training the Woodlynne officers who are currently working,” Rodriguez said. “They have shown interest to be hired, and they have already applied [to Camden Metro].
“I treat my officers fair. I expect them to be as professional as they can be and if they can’t, they don’t work for us,” he said.
The chief described Camden Metro training as being focused on de-escalation, community service, and monitoring all instances in which force is applied.
“My doors are open to walkthroughs,” Rodriguez said. “We’re always open to best practices. Our officers see people as people.
In furtherance of its community policing model, Camden Metro will work to identify and reinforce Safe Corridors to school for children, identify problem hotspots within the community, and install audiovisual monitoring technology that connects up to its headquarters in Camden City.
The department will also create a new website for the borough police department, Rodriguez said; one that will offer local policing data, access to electronic services, and more. The chief also spoke about bolstering its community policing efforts with civil forfeiture assets.
Camden County Metro Police Chief Gabriel Rodriguez addresses Woodlynne residents at a townhall meeting. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.
“We like to buy cameras, giveaways, give kids bikes, utilizing that as an additional funding source,” he said.
A range of responses to the information rippled through the room, from enthusiasm to reluctance.
Resident Melissa Buck summed up the tone of resignation as related to the shock of the transition.
“It’s not because we don’t welcome the police force, it’s because we had no idea,” Buck said.
“It’s not that people don’t want Camden County Police here, it’s just because we were blindsided.”
After the meeting, Buck spoke about feeling like residents in the community “don’t have a say” in local affairs. She pointed out that the community, which has a shared service agreement with Collingswood for its schoolchildren and Camden City for its fire service, is already outsourcing a number of governmental functions.
“We need to do something about the sitting council, who, at this point, are irrelevant,” she said. “See what we can do to get this town back on track.”
Not present at the meeting was Woodlynne Mayor Joseph Chukwueke, whom a few residents called out in his absence.
Reached for comment Tuesday, Chukwueke claimed he is still waiting for local or country government officials to inform him of the details of the policing agreement that his council passed earlier this month over his objections.
“I’m still waiting for them to let me know what is the agreement, what is it they are planning,” Chukwueke said. “I didn’t negotiate this. I don’t know what was negotiated. Nobody has told me the money, anything. The people who talked about it are Mr. Fontanez, Mr. Fuentes, and Mrs. Earley.”
Earley, who represented the borough council from the dais at the townhall meeting, summed up the response of the local governing body bluntly.
“We couldn’t just blatantly not try to hire police officers here in town for the town’s safety,” she said, addressing one resident who asked whether Woodlynne had contemplated any other public safety response besides hiring more police.
“Once it came to the critical point, that’s when we sought out shared services and what finally led to doing Camden County Metro,” Earley said. “You cannot put people’s safety in jeopardy.”
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