This week, the Camden County Board of Freeholders announced their intention to hire John F. Timoney, renowned former Philadelphia Police Commissioner and nationally recognized expert on Public Safety issues, as a consultant to help design and implement the countywide police force.
He will work with county and city public safety officials and experts to help write the plan for Camden City to join the countywide force. He will be working with county and city experts, including the Camden County Police Advisory Committee, on analyzing how the structure and organization of the countywide force should work. He will begin the week of August 15, and is being hired on a per diem basis initially, with the option to hire him on a project basis.
“We cannot think of anyone better suited to help us with this project,” said Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. “His experience, coupled with his knowledge of the area, make him the ideal person to assist us as we create this new entity and help Camden City transition into it.”
Timoney is now Senior Vice President for Business Development and Senior Consultant for Police and Security Matters for Andrews International, a consulting firm with offices throughout the US and the world.
Timoney is a brand in his own right. His career has spanned decades in public safety in some of the biggest cities in the country, from his 29-year career with the New York City Police Force, where he rose through the ranks to become the youngest four-star chief in the history of the department, to his work in Philadelphia as Police Commissioner and his work as Police Chief in Miami for seven years, where he lowered crime and restored integrity to the department. He’s also written books about policing and is an acknowledged expert in his field.
“I look forward to working with the Public Safety officials in Camden City and Camden County to help the city become part of a countywide police force,” Timoney said. “What they’ve proposed in Camden County is happening elsewhere across the US. The objective of this endeavor is to provide a more efficient police organization which will provide greater safety to the city of Camden, as well as to help develop a plan for the structure of a larger countywide force.”
“I believe John Timoney will go down in history as the most unique change agent in law enforcement,” said Camden County Sheriff Chuck Billingham. “What he did in Philadelphia and particularly what he did in Miami was to change the culture. What makes him a great fit for this assignment is the change that he can make here. One of the things John does is to convince people that their city can be a safe place to live. Camden City is the size of one of the neighborhoods in the large cities where he has worked in law enforcement and he made those cities safe. He can do it here. He’s one of the players at the table with a certain area of effectiveness. He sees himself as part of a team, not the only player,” Billingham said.
