"IF WE CAN MAKE IT IN CAMDEN, WE CAN...."

After reading the account of what has happened in Camden, New Jersey by Kate Zernike in the New York Times (September 1), I was encouraged that America's Fergusons can be turned around.


I last passed through Camden about five years ago on my way to the shore. It was not a place that one stopped to ask directions.Properties and the overall city had fallen into total disrepair.


Camden is located on the banks of the Delaware River directly across from Philadelphia. At one time it was the headquarters for some of America's largest industries, RCA Victor being one.


Its down town boasted long standing, well known shops and a few chain stores. Ferries brought workers to work from downtown Philadelphia. On Sundays, families came there with cars filled with children who were thrilled because the cars were able to drive onto the Ferry and  take them across  the Delaware River.


The Walt Whitman Hotel stood as a proud mark of the importance the City gave to the partnership between education, business and the poetry of the famous writer. Much of what I have just described was obliterated in the late 60s.


Camden became over run with crime, drugs, murder, and prostitution about which corrupt politicians and the police did little. Efforts were made to revitalize the City by bringing in entertainment venues but only a small handful of citizens were really participating in the political process.


In the 80s small communities near Camden like Pennsauken rallied citizens to help bridge the services of stable suburban communities with the needs of City residents. Much of this effort was began by volunteers and religious congregations and a new Chief of Police who ordered his police force out of police cars and onto bicycles and to "walk" the neighborhoods.


I do not know the full, current story of Camden, New Jersey. I do know that without the commitment and leadership of citizens, elected officials and public servants living in and around Camden the turn around would have been impossible.


Whether or not these changes will last is anybody's guess. But the changes already made in Camden gives me hope for the future of many of America's Fergusons because of the how successful people and police and laws can be in bringing stability to a dispirited community.