Camden, New Jersey once had a national reputation for its violent crime rates, although recent years have seen a significant drop in violent crime, with 2017 seeing the lowest number of homicides in three decades.
[7] Morgan Quitno based its rankings on crime statistics reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft.
[8] In 2011 in The Nation, journalist Chris Hedges described Camden as "the physical refuse of postindustrial America",[9] plagued with homelessness, drug trafficking, prostitution, robbery, looting, constant violence, and an overwhelmed police force (which in 2011 lost nearly half of its officers to budget-related layoffs).
[10] On October 29, 2012, the FBI announced Camden was ranked first in violent crime per capita of cities with over 50,000 residents.
[13] In 2018, the Camden County Police Department reported that violent crime had dropped 18%, led by a 21% decline in aggravated assaults; overall nonviolent crimes fell by 12%, the number of arson incidents fell by 29%, burglaries by 21%, and non-fatal "shooting hit incidents" had dropped by 15%.