During several weeks of protests over police killings and abuse of black Americans, many police forces have clashed with activists. But in Camden, New Jersey, a poor city of mostly brown and black people, police and activists marched together. Our actions can accelerate situations. What we should be trying to do is de-escalate them, said Scott Thomson, who retired from the Camden County Police Department in 2019. The last thing we want is for the temperature to rise, and for situations to go from bad to worse because of our failed tactics. Thomson led an effort in 2013 to form a new police department to guard Camden after state and local officials disbanded the city’s force. At the time, the city had experienced one of the highest crime rates in America. It also saw years of law enforcement abuses and corruption. Thomson believed that the public and officers themselves, saw the police as warriors. He sought a police department of officers who identify as guardians first.
