The first quarter of 2026 has underscored the significant reduction of crime in the city
(Camden, NJ) –In a stunning accomplishment, the Camden County Police Department has reached a 90% reduction in homicides, compared to the same period in 2012, the last full year of operation of the former city department. The city has also seen a 57% reduction in overall violent crime and an 89% reduction in shootings throughout Camden’s 19 neighborhoods. During the Camden County Police Department’s tenure, robberies have declined 78% and assaults with a firearm have fallen more than 75%, compared with the first quarter of 2012.
This new analysis comes on the heels of the city’s first homicide-free winter in 50 years and builds on the department’s 2025 Uniform Crime Reporting results, which recorded the lowest number of violent crimes and homicides since 1985 with 12 total homicides. Under the leadership of Chief Gabriel Rodriguez and his command staff, the CCPD has collectively focused their strategies on unity policing and embracing technology to make officers smarter and safer on the streets.
Chief Gabriel Rodriguez looked over the new statistics on April 2 and talked about the new metrics being great indicators.
The agency is entering its fifth year facilitating the Village Initiative, offering several events throughout the city on a regular basis including open gym, diaper drives, senior bingo, Bookmates, block-party BBQs and movie nights, and much more. The department has also engaged in several new initiatives including a dodgeball and flag football program, senior citizen outreach, hosting neighborhood cleanups, and other community events.
Camden City Mayor Victor G. Carstarphen highlighted the department’s role in driving improvements throughout the city and enhancing the quality of life for residents.
“In Camden, safety isn’t just a statistic, it’s our top priority,” Carstarphen said. “It is the strong foundation for every other form of progress. It’s what allows families to thrive, businesses to invest, and children to play outside without fear. Not only has our community had a homicide-free summer and winter, but our city has also realized a 90% reduction in homicides since 2012. We are now in a space unlike any other since I’ve grown up here, we are in a period where we are preserving life, whether that means lowering the number of fatal pedestrian accidents, reducing fatal overdoses, or seeing shootings at their lowest level in decades. Chief Rodriguez and his officers have rolled up their sleeves to do the hard work, and as a result, our neighborhoods are becoming safer every day.”
The CCPD continues to work with community partners that include the Salvation Army, the Cooper Foundation, the Boys and Girls Club of Camden County, Rising Leaders, Mighty Writers, and the Sixers Youth Foundation, to host and fund programs that are outside of the main operating budget. These corporate and nonprofit partners enable the agency to provide a third place for youth and young adults to have positive interactions with officers outside of school and home.
George E. Norcross III, Chairman of Cooper University Health Care and MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, the largest city employer and healthcare provider to city residents, commented on the astounding reductions in crime.
“I still vividly remember talking to the chief of the former city department about the unprecedented crime rates and victimization in the city in 2012, it was unlike anywhere else in the nation,” Norcross said. “Since that time a drastic change has taken place and under the leadership of one of the best chiefs in the nation, Gabe Rodriguez, Camden is unrecognizable from 2012. As the chairman of the board to the largest employer in the county, I want to thank the chief and all the officers for their dedication and commitment to making the city a better place live, work and raise a family.”
In addition to the community engagement and continued use of social service providers working with the department, the CCPD launched a new drone program that is working concurrently with the existing tactical center and eye in the sky network. These new tools have made a marked difference in the department’s ability to build out situational awareness and strategic analysis for front line policing.
Former Mayor of Camden City and president of the Camden Community Partnership, Dana Redd, looked back to the day the department launched and the work that went into building it.
“When we started down this path in 2011, we worked day and night to put this department together, to stem the tide of some of the worst violent crime in the nation, we had a moral obligation to change the public safety paradigm here,” Redd said. “This was bipartisan effort by the city, county, and Gov. Christie, at the time, to change the landscape in the city. We wanted residents to feel safe; to be outside and be able to go to the parks, we wanted them to let their kids play on the sidewalks. Now, that dream has become a reality, and it would have never had happened if we hadn’t acted decisively in the face of adversity to make the hard decisions on behalf of the residents of the city to launch the Camden County Police Department.”
Total crime has been declining in Camden precipitously since the inception of the Camden County Police Department. This winter, from December 21 to March 20, CCPD and the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office recorded zero homicides. As of March 20, the city has seen a 100% decrease in homicides from the same time last year. Additionally, as of April 2, the city has only recorded three shootings, a 70% drop from the same time last year.
Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said the accomplishment should be celebrated, but the work is ongoing.
“What a tremendous tribute to the community and our officers that are on streets everyday making a difference throughout the city,” Cappelli continued. “This is an excellent moment in time for the department, nevertheless we need to continue, as a governing body, to ensure workforce development and education keep up with our strides in policing because ultimately everything is inextricably tied together.”