CAMDEN CRIME A PROBLEM HERE, TOO

Fueled by the illegal drug trade, Camden's crime problem is becoming
Gloucester County's headache.

For the second straight year, Camden has been dubbed the most
dangerous city in America by city crime rankings from Morgan Quitno
in Lawrence, Kan.

But crime in Camden is not only caused by those who live in that
city. It's just as much the fault of Gloucester County residents and
those from other suburban communities, according to Camden County
Prosecutor's Office spokesman Bill Shralow.

Drug dealing is the core of Camden's crime problem, Shralow said;
however, between 60 and 70 percent of those arrested for trying to
buy drugs in Camden come from outside the city.

"People in this area know that Camden has somewhere in the
neighborhood of 150 open-air drug sets," Shralow said. "The narcotics
trafficking wouldn't exist -- at least not to the extent that it does
- -- without demand from places like Gloucester County."

Each day, law enforcement officials in Camden work to arrest dealers
and buyers. Once they are out of jail, though, many go right back to
what they were doing.

"It's a big hill to climb," Shralow said. "We've put a considerable
amount of focus on targeting buyers and trying to reduce the suburban demand."

Camden officials and law enforcement agencies from throughout the
state and region have worked to get crime out of the city that's just
a few miles across the Gloucester County border.

"We don't want to see Camden criminals being displaced and traveling
into Gloucester County," said Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton.

"We look at crime trends in the area," Dalton said. "We're especially
interested in transient areas such as apartment complexes where
individuals may try to set up a drug trade.

Crime in nearby Camden does create some local "fallout," Paulsboro
Police Chief Ken Ridinger said. "People that come our way."

Last year, a 28-year-old Camden man was gunned down inside a
Paulsboro apartment. The reason for the crime: An ongoing turf war
between rival drug dealers, authorities have said.

The shooter -- a Paulsboro resident -- and his three accomplices have
since pleaded guilty and are now serving prison terms.

Ridinger said the 2.1-square-mile town has one crime-fighting
advantage -- its small size.

Alert police officers can easily spot newcomers, Ridinger said, and
"identify these folks that come through and start to operate in our
town," Ridinger said.

"If they're up to no good, we'll know in two weeks who they are
related to, who they are seeing," Ridinger said. "We're small enough
to do that."

Camden's dismal designation has slightly impacted higher education in
the city, according to Rutgers University-Camden spokesman Mike Sepanic.

About 100 fewer prospective students chose Rutgers' downtown campus
in 2005, compared to last fall, Sepanic said.

But there are a number of factors that play into that, he explained.

Some of it is because the incoming classes in recent years were
higher than usual and now the students are graduating.

Some of it does have to do with the "negative headlines" concerning Camden.

However, more prospective students are visiting the campus to see
what it is like, Sepanic said. And that is a good thing.

Visitors can see that the "campus is well maintained," Sepanic said.
"We do a good and vigilant job of security."

Another plus is the university's location, adjacent to the city's
waterfront redevelopment.

"It is not just our campus, it's our neighborhood as well that is a
nice, comfortable neighborhood," the spokesman said.

Regardless, the university has beefed up security. According to
Sepanic, Rutgers Camden employs 19 commissioned police officers who
carry firearms, 45 security guards and a number of "community service
officers" -- students who are trained to patrol the campus.

"You're always looking at how you're doing security and how you can
do it better," he said.

What the crime publicity really means for Rutgers is that the
university has to work harder to sell itself to prospective students
and parents.

"We have to show people," Sepanic said, "that our campus and our
neighborhood is much more than the sum of the headlines."