Camden’s historic decline in crime requires context, say experts

From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

Camden’s continuing downward trend in violent crime reflects years of progress that officials and researchers interpret differently.

The Camden County Police Department said the city recorded 12 homicides in 2025, five fewer than in 2024, as violent crime overall fell 6%. The city also recorded its first homicide-free summer in 50 years.

Camden has been experiencing historic declines in crime since 2021. At the start of last year, city officials announced a 55-year low in total crime. Between 2024 and 2025, total crime fell 10%.

“We still have ways to go, but we’re certainly moving in the right direction,” said Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr., who added that officials would like to get to the point of “zero murders” in addition to “eliminating a lot of the other crime that has taken place.”

Camden joined Philadelphia and Newark in reporting lower rates of crime last year. John Shjarback, associate professor of criminal justice at Rowan University, said the numbers reflect a confluence of national trends and local efforts.

“We’re finally, over the past few years, getting back to prepandemic norms,” he said, adding that the COVID pandemic “decimated” the number of government jobs for social workers and people who worked in victim services and other support areas. “I think it’s that confluence between national-level trends, but also local efforts, things that police departments and community groups, nonprofits are also doing within communities.”

Tim Merrill, a city resident and director of the Imani Hope Center, agreed that a combination of factors have been at play.

“I would agree that policing now is more professional, and that is from community pressures,” he said. “The whole policing reform push in the wake of George Floyd’s crucifixion has bearing on policing that we demand as a community: more professional policing.”

Merrill said there is also a cultural shift from the “heyday of violence in Camden” that, he adds, “has nothing to do with policing.”

“The culture was dominated by promotion of a culture of Black death,” he said, noting the glorification of gang culture and violence in some hip-hop music during that time. “This generation is totally very different because the previous generation got worn out by all that … now they’re talking about crypto and entrepreneurial ventures and things like that.”

Cappelli credited the work of the countywide police department for the reduction in crime.

“They are at the forefront of not just fighting crime, but also preventing crime,” he said. “Their community policing methods, they’re building relationships with residents of the city, have all resulted in this dramatic decrease in crime in the city.”

The context behind the numbers

Shjarback, who wrote a book about police reform in Camden, said there are several caveats to the city’s crime numbers to keep in mind. When the Camden County Police Department began operations in 2013, the city had just experienced its most violent year on record.

“The old Camden City PD was completely dysfunctional,” he said. “They didn’t engage in a lot of proactive police work, and they were experiencing daily absentee rates of 30 to 50%, plus they lost half of their force that was laid off in 2011.”

Shjarback said comparing the current county-led police department to the former agency is “apples to oranges.”

Darnell Hardwick, a county resident who was active in NAACP Camden County Branch #2080 until it was suspended, said things have gotten better since 2012 because, back then, “there was no will to police and to have good numbers.”

Despite the reduction in violence, Camden has retained the highest per capita homicide rate among the four “major urban” cities in New Jersey for much of the last decade, according to Shjarback.

“Twelve homicides compared to 17 last year means five fewer funerals for families and grieving,” he said. “But those 12, given [the] population around 71,000 people that live in Camden, according to the estimates, that’s still approximately four times the national average.”

Staffing concerns remain

Shjarback said retaining officers in the county police department continues to be a challenge.

“If you look at the average … they’re always between 330 and 360 [officers],” he said. “I have the number of hires and losses, and I see the number of losses through the third quarter of 2025 is on pace with what we have traditionally seen since 2013.”

According to the county, there are 353 officers on staff and 47 vacancies.

Cappelli said “we’ve never had a better retention rate than we have now” and the immediate priority is to make sure the police department is fully staffed.

“Officers are staying with us and we’ve really built an outstanding police department over the last few years,” he said.