Officials Consider Regionalizing Police Work In Atlantic City
By David Madden
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBS) - This week's summit on the future of Atlantic City centered on a lot more than just what to do about the casinos.
In fact, the city may just take a page from Camden's playbook when it comes to providing police protection.
Homeowners have been hit with a 50-percent property tax hike over the last two years. And facing a potential $65-million dollar deficit next year, Atlantic City's looking everywhere for help.
One idea under consideration is to form a regional police force similar to how Camden County took over Camden's department a couple years ago.
"Everything's on the table and I think we looked at each other and said 'you know, we have to talk about this and see where it goes'," State Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo said.
There's no telling if the idea will fly, but the parties meet again late next month.
Camden's move has saved the city a good deal of money, put more cops on the street and actually lowered the overall crime rate.
