CNBNews

WOODLYNNE, NJ (AUGUST 7, 2024)--On Thursday, the Camden County Commissioners will announce the Woodlynne Police Department will disband because of a severe staffing shortage and the Camden County Police Department will start policing the small municipality. After years of oversight by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, the borough agency will disband, and the governing body will work with the Commissioners to create a smooth transition for patrols to start in the coming weeks.

According to a letter from Edwin Ramos, the director of public safety for the borough, to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, by October the Woodlynne Police Department “will be operating with only a total of four officers to patrol, supervise and maintain training working 12 hours a day, seven days a week, leaving the police department unsustainable to provide police services for the residents, visitors and a safety issue for the officers who remain.”   

                        The Commissioners will work with the Borough Council to assess the needs of the municipality to ensure they have proper police coverage for the 2,900 residents and businesses throughout the .22 square mile borough. At this time, the current department does not have the manpower or the infrastructure in place to continue to operate as an accredited organization after September 1. 

                        Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr., liaison to the Camden County Police Department talked about the need to support the unsustainable operation.                    

“Ironically, this is why we originally formed the Camden County Police Department in 2013 because of the failure of the Collingswood PD and Woodlynne PD shared service agreement in 2009,” Cappelli said. “Today we have agreed to assist Woodlynne and support them in providing sustainable policing services that the taxpayers in the town deserve and ensure that we are providing a well-trained agency that is committed to building community and focused on engagement with residents.”

In addition to the letter by the public safety director and the preliminary assessment by Camden County Police Department, the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police did an independent evaluation of the borough’s agency and what they uncovered was a department in need of reform. Some of the highlights include, “no inventory controls, no indication of any proactive crime data analysis, no officer evaluations, 2021 was the last year of record for training for any Woodlynne officer, the investigation function was merely ink on paper and was not being completed, no school security program exists, and evidence is not properly secured.” The report goes on to chronicle significant deficiencies in all aspects of policing, but overall, it says the “Woodlynne Police Department is experiencing a crisis in all the identified critical areas.”

Camden County Chief Gabriel Rodriguez talked about the process and assessment period.

“At this current juncture we are working with the existing officers, borough officials and council to determine what the needs of the community are, and we are preparing to be ready to start assisting with supplemental patrols on September 1,” Rodriguez said. “Moving forward we will be consolidating the borough’s existing officers into our operation and the three officers they have in the Monmouth County Police Academy to move forward.”