Changes in Camden, NJ foreseeable?
A news report confirms the foreseeable consequences of the police layoffs in Camden, New Jersey:
Two months after Camden, NJ, laid off 160 police officers, city prosecutors have released a sobering report showing a dramatic rise in violent crime in the drug-and-crime-ridden city of 80,000 residents.
Aggravated assaults with firearms jumped 259 percent in January and February compared to last year, and violent crime over all is up 19 percent, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Murders and robberies, however, were down for the period.
Another issue with the crime statistics: And residents are wasting their time, sources say, if they report nonviolent serious crimes. "If you're not shot or murdered, or if it does not involve a drug gang, it's not going to be investigated," another anonymous cop told the Times.
It was separately foreseeable that with fees diverted from the USPTO that there would be a backlog of unexamined patent applications. One wonders if the backlog will get to the point that inventors won't bother to file.
***Of the "reporting crime" issue, see A tale of two thefts:
Another theft, on August 26, 2010 in Hamilton Township, NJ, had a much different ending. Two people had brought a lawnmower in a truck to mow a lawn. They went into the house to get ready. When they returned a few minutes later, the mower was gone. The Hamilton Township police were called and stated a car would be sent over. After over an hour, no car, and the victims phoned the police and offered to drive to the Hamilton Police Headquarters to make a report. The victims went to the station, waited in line for a receptionist, and then were told to call on an internal phone. On the phone, they were told it would take 1 to 2 hours to make the report. There was so much "active crime" going on, that there were no police to take the report, or to do anything about the theft. Thefts that had already occurred were not a high priority.
Two months after Camden, NJ, laid off 160 police officers, city prosecutors have released a sobering report showing a dramatic rise in violent crime in the drug-and-crime-ridden city of 80,000 residents.
Aggravated assaults with firearms jumped 259 percent in January and February compared to last year, and violent crime over all is up 19 percent, the Camden County Prosecutor's Office told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Murders and robberies, however, were down for the period.
Another issue with the crime statistics: And residents are wasting their time, sources say, if they report nonviolent serious crimes. "If you're not shot or murdered, or if it does not involve a drug gang, it's not going to be investigated," another anonymous cop told the Times.
It was separately foreseeable that with fees diverted from the USPTO that there would be a backlog of unexamined patent applications. One wonders if the backlog will get to the point that inventors won't bother to file.
***Of the "reporting crime" issue, see A tale of two thefts:
Another theft, on August 26, 2010 in Hamilton Township, NJ, had a much different ending. Two people had brought a lawnmower in a truck to mow a lawn. They went into the house to get ready. When they returned a few minutes later, the mower was gone. The Hamilton Township police were called and stated a car would be sent over. After over an hour, no car, and the victims phoned the police and offered to drive to the Hamilton Police Headquarters to make a report. The victims went to the station, waited in line for a receptionist, and then were told to call on an internal phone. On the phone, they were told it would take 1 to 2 hours to make the report. There was so much "active crime" going on, that there were no police to take the report, or to do anything about the theft. Thefts that had already occurred were not a high priority.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 10:01 AM
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