[2][3][4] It is sometimes referred to as the Metro Division even though, unlike many other metropolitan police forces in the United States, it presently does not patrol outside of the city.

Camden experienced a spike in homicides, and the city police department wanted to hire more patrol officers but couldn't afford to "partly because of generous union contracts.

[11] Well-known law enforcement executive John Timoney was retained to develop an organizational and functional plan for the department.

[17] Then-chief Scott Thomson saw it as a way to "hit the reset button" and completely change how policing worked in Camden;[17][19] he characterized the city force at the time as "apathetic, lethargic and corrupt".

[1][22] The members of the new "county" police force had lower salaries, along with fewer benefits, than they had received from the city.

[8] Thomson announced that officers would no longer be judged on how many tickets they wrote or arrests they made but on relationships they developed in the community and whether citizens felt safe enough to sit on their front steps or allow their children to ride their bikes in the street.

[10] The initial strategy was to have as many officers walking and biking the streets as possible to discourage drug traffickers; as citizens felt safer and began occupying public spaces again, a critical mass of well-intentioned citizens was sufficient to keep the drug traffickers away and police pulled back on their presence.

[17] Thomson also adopted new policies on use-of-force[8] and "scoop and go", which instructs officers to load injured people into their cruisers to take them to the hospital if calling for an ambulance would cause a delay.

[27] Criminal lawyers and civil libertarians have raised concerns that use of the system may conflict with citizens' expectation of privacy.

A contract was entered with the private security firm AlliedBarton to provide 70 to 100 ambassadors when state funds become available.

[31] On October 29, 2012, the FBI announced Camden was ranked first in violent crime per capita of cities with over 50,000 residents, surpassing Flint, Michigan.

[33][34][35] On October 28, 2014, Officer Ashley Bailey was fired and arrested on corruption charges involving a $1.2 million illegal drug ring.