As calls to defund and disband the police grow, former Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson discusses how Camden, N.J. disbanded and rebuilt its police force in 2013. Aired on 6/8/2020.
» Subscribe to MSNBC:
MSNBC delivers breaking news, in-depth analysis of politics headlines, as well as commentary and informed perspectives. Find video clips and segments from The Rachel Maddow Show, Morning Joe, Meet the Press Daily, The Beat with Ari Melber, Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace, Hardball, All In, Last Word, 11th Hour, and more.
Connect with MSNBC Online
Visit msnbc.com:
Subscribe to MSNBC Newsletter:
Find MSNBC on Facebook:
Follow MSNBC on Twitter:
Follow MSNBC on Instagram:
How Camden, N.J. Disbanded And Rebuilt Its Police Department | MTP Daily | MSNBC
Police entitlement is out of control. Even off duty clowns In McDonald’s threaten people with, “Guess what? I’m a cop and I’ll make you sorry.”
Ron Allen so this makes it ok for his life to be taken?? So this means that it’s okay for the officer to walk? He had more then 18 complaints and he is the person u call for safety! What about his punishment? He misused his authority under the badge to serve and protect! This is WAY BIGGER then George Floyd and to say well he did “this” so why do we care what happens to him means you don’t see what’s really happening! You watched an Authoritative figure purposely take the life of another , which by the way happens very often in the black community, and felt like he was going to walk because he has gotten away with this over and over, then that goes to show how big the issue really is! Police brutality against black people go back for years! Every black man is not a criminal yet they are still harassed! Laws need to be changed but America needs to look at Black history because they are a part of it and it’s a BRUTAL reality!
@LadyLips💋 No, he should go to prison for what he did, my complaint is the dirty rotten race baiting media make this only about black people when in fact dirty cops effects all people.
@rw501 camden cut their police force for MONEY. look at top of this thread at my replies
@Ron Allen yeah, and he was trying to rob a drug house. she was a fkn pregnant drug dealer, not mother teresa
@Colin Cleveland actually nearly all of the 9 precious unarmed blacks/Dem voters killed last year were either beating up the cop, or going for their gun.
Demilitarize and de-radicalize all police forces everywhere.
@Ron Allen that’s not what free market means you moron, god your stupid.
@Ron Allen Moron. I bet you cashed your stimulus check tho didn’t you!! AND!! Police dept are a socialism program…. as is teachers, fire dept, roads, military, and even your government ran health care that you will sign up for once you get old enough. Maybe you should do even a hint of research before you post, that way you won’t look so stupid!!
@Ron Allen The rich don’t employ us, you moron. Need employs us.
gobigorange you’re
and also DOUBLE the size of your actual police department. that sure solves things, you know what good people have been asking for
Camden should be used as a national model & community policing, not military style policing should be used everywhere.
@Tanner Shortnacy That isnt the only role police should have or be trained for.
@PastramiKing Its an improvement on murder.
@Micky Cripplejohn broken windows policing leads to more arrests and harassment of black communities. It’s more of the same
@Andra Book it’s a ghetto stupid
Camden is rated the most dangerous city in New Jersey…..it’s obviously not working.
Thank you. Thate was lovely and necessary.
Deescalate the situation, key word Deescalate, not Escalate, which a lot of cops need to learn!
Maybe stop acting like idiots. Defund and see who comes to your aid
@Logic Police LMAO
Demolition man tried the same thing, it only takes one well equipped and informed criminal to bring things crashing down.
Then they would have to actually do work. They’d rather mace, taze, and shoot their way to a paycheck.
@chari blomquist did you not watch the video at all?
Great to hear this is possible in the US.
What if the criminal choose to escalate the situation are these officers prepared for that.
Fake news, Camden did NOT defund its police force. It simply changed the name and ‘laid off’ and immediately rehired back the same police under a new name…the current ‘Metro Police Force’ has twice as many officers as the old ‘Camden PD’ did and more funding because they call themselves a ‘County’ level force despite no patrol zones outside the city…they get fed funds for both city and county police force…fraud waste and abuse.
Camden is rated the most dangerous city in New Jersey…obviously it’s not working!
Wouldn’t be so fast to assume it’s possible here in the US
Trump police right there in the procurement process!!! tread very carefully USA
Makes me wonder why law enforcement is not already doing these things? They can say what they want about the protesters. If the protestors were breaking the law for a curfew excetera, then arrest, but it doesn’t give them the right to start beating people.
Police unions are a huge problem
@Pheej L police union protect the brutality of policeman 👎
AMEN! Public Servants should NOT have Unions!! Their bosses are ELECTED and can be changed.
People who don’t work always say that.
Damien Damien I own my own company. 😃Any other racist stuff you want to say. Remember how lazy whites were. They couldn’t even pick their own produce. 🤔
Damien Damien people who come from Red States and contribute almost nothing to GDP are quick to claim the highly productive Blue States that give them huge handouts are somehow lazy. It’s pretty funny, you know what they say “work smart- not hard”
Wow. Talk about an important conversation to have…
Very interesting interview. Lots to consider in that model.
As someone born raised and still living in Camden, I can tell you it’s improved a lot…. 5 years ago it was pretty common for me to hear gun shots in my neighborhood on a night to night basis… now its it’s down to a few times a year
Sure it is. Ideas and practices that can improve police and policing should be welcomed by all.
Thank you. Clear, concise and complete. Well said and well spoken.
Add “compassionate” and you have all the makings of effective communication!
Please become a consultant to other good chiefs.
Something works like a charm – and has done so for years – and the typical US American question is : Do you think this could work in other places? The answer is simple: YES you dummy! If it works HERE it will bloody well work THERE as well!
I sometimes wonder if being US American has a negative impact on your intellect, actually makes you more dumb than people in other parts of the world (I happen to know that e.g. Canadian Americans do NOT suffer from this impediment).
Fake news, Camden did NOT defund its police force. It simply changed the name and ‘laid off’ and immediately rehired back the same police under a new name…the current ‘Metro Police Force’ has twice as many officers as the old ‘Camden PD’ did and more funding because they call themselves a ‘County’ level force despite no patrol zones outside the city…they get fed funds for both city and county police force…fraud waste and abuse. The only real change has been a reduction in ticket writing which IS a very important improvement.
@Geralt Rivia All this. Critical thinking is dying in America. There’s no room for nuanced, well informed discussions because everyone is in their echo chambers driven by the media. People are easily manipulated so fancy slogans like Defund the Police actually become public policy without even offering a plan to replace it just to please the angry mob. These same forces gave us Trump 4 years ago. Instead of Defund the Police it was Build That Wall. Clowns to the left, jokers to the right
@John Watt we had free universities back 20 years ago in the US. Back then we called it high school
@Geralt Rivia I agree
@PastramiKing as long as it stays in America
My wife is from NJ and has been saying this for weeks. Glad the news caught up with her
Very articulate frmr Police Chief. He should share his valuable lessons with other cities.
do this and you too can be ranked in the top 10 unsafest cites too, just like Camden after this miracle. what a great plan
The way Police Chief Scott Thomson talked sounded like a professor compared to both political parties.
A bit like the British police work: tough when they have to be and gentle when they can be.
And a lot better trained as well.
We need more police chiefs like this man.
Police are supposed to have more training than just a HS diploma.