Camden Asks National Guard for Help

After the latest violence in crime-torn Camden, some local leaders are asking the National Guard to help securie the city across the river from Philadelphia.

A deadly shooting at a Camden convenience store on Monday night left the owner dead and three people wounded.

City leaders want Gov. Chris Christie to send in the National Guard to police Camden.

They want more help for police after massive budget cuts trimmed 170 officers. Camden was able to hire back close to 30 officers thanks to grants.

In a statement to Fox 29, the press secretary for Gov. Christie said Camden’s mayor was doing a good job in a difficult situation.

“To her credit, Mayor Redd has managed law enforcement staffing well and, in fact, rehired many laid off police officers,” said Michael Drewniak. “Unfortunately, it is hard not to note that the police union refused during extensive negotiations to accept any meaningful concessions which could have mitigated layoffs in the first place. We also know that Mayor Redd and county officials are working as quickly as possible to establish a county police force that will realize savings that could be used in part to assist in law enforcement staffing.”

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One of the 10 people shot over the weekend was a rear passenger in a taxi who was hit with gunfire from another vehicle that was driving by. {snip}

The most alarming of all of the stats is that there hasn’t been an arrest in any of these eight gun crimes since Friday.

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