Last month, the Camden County Police Department (CCPD) held the first of several meetings aimed at increasing public awareness of its recently revised use of force policy.
Following the formal adoption of the policy—which was drafted with the help of the Policing Project and vetted by the ACLU of New Jersey and the Fraternal Order of Police—CCPD leadership invited civic leaders, clergy and other community stakeholders to meet and discuss the new guidelines.
Held at the Chief J. Scott Thomson Camden Police Administration Building in Camden, New Jersey, the meeting included a presentation from Policing Project Fellow Julian Clark, an open discussion and a de-escalation simulation.
Revisions to the Policy
The presentation focused on the six core principles upon which the new use of force policy is based—each of which has at its core the sanctity of all human life—as well as the major differences between the current policy and its predecessor. As the presentation highlighted, the current policy can be distinguished from the prior version in several key ways, including the following:
Additionally, the presentation included a comparison of Camden’s policy and the policies of the twenty-five largest U.S. city police departments across eight key metrics:
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The policy requires de-escalation;
The policy has a use of force continuum;
The policy bans chokeholds and strangleholds;
The policy requires officers warn before shooting;
The policy restricts shooting at moving vehicles;
The policy requires deadly force be the last option;
The policy specifies that officers have a duty to intervene in any uses of force that violate applicable laws and/or CCPD directives;
The policy requires comprehensive reporting of uses of force.
During the presentation, Clark explained to the stakeholders that of the policies that were compared, only Camden’s and San Francisco’s satisfy all eight metrics.
Feedback from the Community
Although the revised use of force policy was generally well-received, community leaders took full advantage of the opportunity to share their thoughts, concerns and questions with Camden Police Chief Joe Wysocki.
After the CCPD provided thoughtful answers to these questions, one question—“how does de-escalation work?”—sparked a transition to the final portion of the community meeting—the de-escalation simulation. After watching an officer demonstrate the exercise, volunteers took turns using VirTra V-300, the new, state-of-the-art use of force and de-escalation training simulator. The equipment, which includes an elevated stage surrounded by five floor-to-ceiling screens, is designed to immerse the user in lifelike scenarios depicting potentially life-threatening situations that require situational awareness, critical decision making and the use of effective de-escalation tactics.
As Sergeant Thornton— one of the CCPD’s lead trainers—explained, CCPD officers use the simulator to learn how to properly respond to situations that traditionally would warrant deadly force but do not necessarily require it. Enshrining this approach to training, the revised use of force policy emphasizes that deadly force should only be used as a last resort and whenever feasible, officers should attempt to de-escalate confrontations with the goal of resolving encounters without any force whatsoever.
The community meeting concluded with remarks by Chief Wysocki and closing comments from community members who stayed until the end. One lifelong Camden resident left CCPD leadership with some positive encouragement: “This new policy is a step in the right direction. It’s nice to see you truly follow your slogan and put service before self.”