City Of Trenton Lays Off 150 Employees, Including Police Officers

TRENTON, NJ (CBS) - Layoff notices have gone out to some 150 employees of the city of Trenton, more than two-thirds of them are police officers.

New Jersey's capital city has suffered through two rounds of municipal layoffs in as many years, but this is the first time cops are affected. One hundred eight of them will go, effective the middle of next month.

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack  says they will redeploy the remaining officers to keep street patrols at current levels, "There are some areas within the department that will go lacking, but the one area we want to make sure to maintain its full compliment was the street presence."

Trenton's police union has warned that these layoffs will result in higher crime rates, a point Mack is not willing to concede, although he is applying for state aid in hopes of calling some of the soon-to-be-laid-off cops back.

Reported by David Madden, KYW Newsradio 1060