Township officials and top brass from the Pennsauken Police Department were on hand to recognize the ten new police officers who had been hired onto the force over the last 18 months and are currently patrolling Pennsauken’s streets.

“Within the last few months, we’ve hired several police officers, including approximately eight from the city of Camden who had been previously laid off,” says Pennsauken Police Chief John Coffey.

Chief Coffey went on to explain that the former Camden officers had a wide range of experience – from three years on the job to almost 15 years on the force – and that the Pennsauken Police were already leveraging this experience to better protect and serve residents. “The benefit that we saw, as a municipal police department, was that they had all been trained. They’d all been to various schooling. So essentially, the only thing we had to do was outfit them with their uniforms. Our new officers went through an abbreviated field training program. They were already familiar with the procedures, policies, and the area. So they pretty much hit the street running after only a few weeks. These officers are all currently working right now.”

“These hires have greatly improved the safety of Pennsauken Township in my estimation. Many of these officers are either from Pennsauken, or very familiar with the area.”

Coffey went on to say that all of the new officers are currently on patrol duty during the evening hours, quite literally making sure that Pennsauken residents sleep a little easier. “We put the most amount of officers on during the times when we most need them. So most of them come in and start their shifts at 7:00 p.m. at night.”

The influx of new officers, combined with several other factors, has helped create a reduction of crime in Pennsauken.

“Over the last few months, crime is down about 16 percent,” explains Coffey. “You can have a whole lot of different reasons for that. One is obviously police presence and being proactive. One could be the weather. We like to see it when the crime numbers are down. Our calls for service are also down. There’s less happening. We hope to continue that trend.”