In 2025, Camden, New Jersey — a city of about 72,000 residents that sits across the Delaware River from Philadelphia — experienced its first homicide-free summer in nearly 50 years.
The city ended the year with 12 homicides — a stark drop from 2012 when it recorded 67, a per capita rate 18 times the national average at the time.
I’m a professor of criminal justice who wrote a book on police reform efforts in Camden over the last 15 years. The stunning turnaround in violent crime has led Camden and its newly formed Camden County Police Department, which was established in 2013 and replaced the Camden City Police Department, to be hailed as a model of reform. In 2015, then-President Obama visited the city to highlight the progress made.
Positive national and international attention on police reform in Camden continued in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd. This attention stemmed from the Minneapolis city council’s unanimous decision to dissolve the Minneapolis Police Department and start anew — much as Camden had done seven years earlier…