Thread: America's Most Dangerous City About To Become Living Hell

Life In America's Most Dangerous City About To Become "Living Hell" As Layoffs Of One Quarter Of Government Labor Force Begin

by Tyler Durden
01/18/2011 13:22 -0500

Life in Camden, NJ has never been fun. Frequently ranked as America's most dangerous city, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01386.html whose only claim to fame are the corporate offices of Campbell's Soup, Camden is about to get even more dangerous as it is among the first to experience wholesale cuts to its government labor pool. Bloomberg reports that "as many as 383 workers, representing one-fourth of the local government's work force, are expected to lose their jobs, including about half the police force and one-third of the city's firefighters." It seems cuts have already commenced: "police officers are turning in their badges as part of deep municipal layoffs that began Tuesday." It's a good thing then that unlike the rest of the world, New Jersey does not (yet) have surging food inflation as otherwise one may be tempted to argue this could be a rather interesting hot spot in the future, especially with the local police force deciding to find better pastures even as it starts collecting 99 weeks of unemployment benefits.

From Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-1 ... en-nj.html

Firefighters are planning to march to City Hall on Tuesday, and Mayor Dana Redd is planning a noon news conference to talk about the layoffs in a city facing a huge budget deficit and declining state aid.

The officers began turning in their badges Monday as it became clear that no last-minute deal was going to save many jobs.

Located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Camden is rampant with open drug-dealing, prostitution and related crimes. More than half of Camden's 80,000 residents, mostly black and Hispanic, live in poverty.

The anti-crime volunteer group Guardian Angels also says it will patrol Camden, as it has Newark, where there were major police layoffs in November.

The fire department, meanwhile, has already been relying on help from volunteer departments in neighboring towns. Interim fire chief David Yates, who retired Jan. 1, has warned that that layoffs will increase response times.

A local pastor says "the fear quotient has been raised," and a police union took out a full-page newspaper advertisement last week warning that Camden would become a "living hell" if layoffs were not averted.

Of course, this being Camden, the only thing that could really push the city to recreate the living conditions of Hades would be a surge not so much in the price of food, or even iPads, but crack cocaine. And according to the Chairman there is substantial slack in the drug production vertical. Which means there are at least a few months before Camden becomes ground zero for what happens when surging inflation and insolvent municipalities mix with curious consequences.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/life-a ... ernment-la

I had to go to Camden a couple of years ago for bankruptcy court. I got a little lost and I cant even describe how horrible this city it . It is beyond bad. It was 9 a.m. in the morning and there were not that many people out, juist a couple of hookers and maybe a couple of homeless men. I was scared to death, and I was born and raised in Newark and really do not scare that easily. Now there are LESS cops? If you ever have reason to go to Camden, forget it dont go.

Crime-ridden Camden, N.J., cuts police force nearly in half

By the CNN Wire Staff
January 18, 2011 -- Updated 2354 GMT (0754 HKT)

Video:

(CNN) -- The mayor of crime-ridden Camden, New Jersey, has announced layoffs of nearly half of the city's police force and close to a third of its fire department.

One hundred sixty-eight police officers and 67 firefighters were laid off Tuesday, as officials struggle to close a $26.5 million budget gap through a series of belt-tightening measures, Mayor Dana Redd told reporters. The layoffs take effect immediately.

Redd said she was unable to secure the $8 million in budget concessions that she says she needed to save the jobs of up to 100 police officers and many of the city's firefighters.

The mayor -- who said she will continue negotiations with police and fire unions -- had been asking the workers to pay more for their health care, freeze or reduce their salaries and take furlough days.

The apparent impasse has left administrators of a city with the second-highest crime rate in the nation scrambling to figure out solutions to keep residents safe. Camden is second only to St. Louis, Missouri, in annual rankings of cities based on compilations of FBI crime statistics.

Some clerical officers were demoted and reassigned to the streets, the mayor said, pledging that the cuts would not affect public safety.

"We're still going to protect our residents," said Robert Corrales, spokesman for Redd. Public safety "will remain our top concern. We'll shift our resources to be more efficient with what we have."

But police and firefighter union officials say the layoffs will most certainly have an impact.

"It's absolutely, physically impossible to cover the same amount of ground in the same amount of time with less people," said John Williamson, president of the Fraternal Order of Police union in Camden. "Response times will be slower."

One local business owner, David Brown, said he does not "understand how you can do more with less."

"I don't want to be a pessimist, but I can't be optimistic."

Camden resident and sanitation worker Gloria Valentin said she is now fearful that the city does not have enough police protection to keep people safe.

"Today is a real sad day in the city of Camden," she said.


http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/01/18/ne ... y.layoffs/

Pattyk, I grew up down neck in Newark and it was never as bad as Camden on a good day. The unions refused to even think about concessions to save jobs. The taxpayers of NJ are tired of supporting Camden.

Can anyone tell me why or how Camden got so bad?

I know nothing about NJ except that it is the Garden State.

SicNTiredInSoCal wrote,

Can anyone tell me why or how Camden got so bad? Confused

I know nothing about NJ except that it is the Garden State.

Democrat policies and the fiat dollar.

Hang in there SicNTired, this will make itself known in Cali soon enough. New Jersey has had more time at then Cali.

Originally Posted by roundabout

SicNTiredInSoCal wrote,

Can anyone tell me why or how Camden got so bad? Confused

I know nothing about NJ except that it is the Garden State.

Democrat policies and the fiat dollar.

Hang in there SicNTired, this will make itself known in Cali soon enough. New Jersey has had more time at then Cali.

Sounds pretty much like what happened here and in Detroit. Everything Dems touch seems to go to sh!t eventually.

Massive corruption is also a problem. Mayors, police, schools, etc. everyone out to game the system, and these are the politicians/employees! The residents? As long as they keep getting their govt checks, very few will try to fight city hall.

miguelina wrote,

Massive corruption is also a problem. Mayors, police, schools, etc. everyone out to game the system, and these are the politicians/employees! The residents? As long as they keep getting their govt checks, very few will try to fight city hall.

Don't mind me miguelina, I am just gonna skegway my rant from here.

This is a direct result of the fiat dollar. The term fiat dollar needs clarification also. It is not a dollar that we use in everyday transactions, it is a note. A Federal Reserve Note. This is on top of the note; under the note it is printed as a dollar.

A note is a promissary note to pay the debt. A dollar has value in itself.

Now the fiat system corrupts society in a slow but steady manner as it has always done throughout history. It is a subtle degradation of society, and inevitable.

Webster said, (paraphrase) 'that there are two types of men in government; those that cherish freedom and liberty, and those that cherish power.

When the fiat comes into play so does the power hungry politician or businessman.

In order to keep the power or the advantage, the power player promises the moon to society. Society buys into the promise. The promise is kept by begging the government, and thus the bank to free up some money (debt is created). Money above and beyond the income from taxes or duties, or whatever other means that earns money. This is where the bank fires up the debt creating printing presses. Now the power player looks good, as cheap money is flowing, yet the inflationary effects are not yet felt, nor the interest on the debt.

Inflationary effects are what frustrates the man at the bottom. He can not keep up due to inflation and his hopes of success whither before his eyes. This is degrading to the honest man just trying to get ahead, and leads to a degraded individual willing to act in a manner not beneficial to the greater society. He gets involved in drugs or gambling and creates a cycle of promises by the power player to fix the problem.

Why bust your butt if you can get a fiat (debt based) check in the mail? The bank cares not about the health of society. It is a business that looks at the bottom line. The bottom line is generated by debt that accrues interest. Party on Dude!

Debt based fiat currencies are like snowballs rolling downhill. Little by little the problem grows ever larger, one snowflake at a time.

Just as the illegal alien tempts the businessman to hire him at a lower wage and thus acquire for himself an advantage that will end up as a self perpetuating disaster for all. The honest businessman must now decide to remain honest and compete against unfair labor practices, or go out of business.

The fiat dollar is like pie in the sky. Everybody wants a slice even though it will prove to be poisonous and kill all who ate of it.

Just my $0.02 worth, not yet adjusted for inflation...........get it quick!.....oops.....two late,.....now worth Didley's squat! Sorry....ya snooze, ya loose!