The Camden Police Department is proud to announce that it will be pursuing state accreditation through the South Carolina Law Enforcement Accreditation (SCLEA) program. The memorandum of understanding was submitted to SCLEA on May 8, 2023 to begin the process.
Interim Chief Darren Norris stated, “The Camden Police Department is dedicated to providing the highest level of service to our community. Pursuing accreditation through the SCLEA program is a significant step towards ensuring that our department is operating at the highest standards. It demonstrates our commitment to excellence in law enforcement and building trust and confidence with the community we serve.”
During the accreditation process, the department will be reviewing and ensuring compliance with the requirements set forth by the SCLEA standards. This will include implementing best practices, improving management practices, community engagement, and enhancing officer safety, among other important operational standards.
Accreditation provides numerous benefits for the department, including increased community trust and confidence, accountability, and a framework for continuous improvement. The department believes that pursuing accreditation is essential in maintaining and improving the quality of service provided to the community.
The Camden Police Department is excited to take this important step and looks forward to working with the SCLEA throughout the accreditation process.
The City of Camden is excited to launch “Connect Camden SC”, a new mobile citizen engagement application powered by GOGov. This application puts the power of city hall in the palm of your hand.
The app allows residents to have a direct line of communication to request services and report issues such as potholes, street light outages, and more. The app will also be a great source of information with links to the city website, news, and ongoing events.
City Manager Jon Rorie says staff will leverage powerful dashboards and reporting tools to identify hot spots, increase productivity, streamline communications, and prioritize projects.
“We want our citizens to know that when a request for service or a report of a zoning violation is submitted, city staff will respond in a prioritized fashion, and will be able to directly communicate with citizens, so they can track the issue,” Rorie said.
Citizens can also receive alerts and push notifications from the City of Camden through the app, keeping them informed to street closures, water and sewer line breaks, and boil water advisories.
The launch of the “Connect Camden SC” app coincides with a shift in code enforcement from the City’s building department to a Community Response Team including the Camden Police Department’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) officers. These officers will focus their efforts on violations of the City’s zoning ordinances, such as placement of temporary signs in the right-of-way on streets within city limits, and traffic enforcement within the city of Camden.
To download the free app, go to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store and search “Connect Camden SC” to find the app.
ABOUT GOGOV GOGov is a leader in providing proving software and apps to local governments of all sizes. GOGov specializes in providing CRM, Code Enforcement, Citizen Notifications and Mobile software. We built our software from the ground up working with the departments and staff that now use our products every single day. Learn more at www.gogovapps.com.
Join us as we honor some of America’s first veterans. Camden will make history as fourteen soldiers who lost their lives at the August 16, 1780 Battle of Camden are reinterred on the battlefield Saturday, April 22. More information can be found at CamdenBurials.org
Venues county-wide include The Revolutionary War Visitor Center at Camden (212 Broad Street), Historic Camden Revolutionary War Park (222 Broad Street), Downtown Camden Cultural District (1001 Broad Street), Bethesda Presbyterian Church (502 deKalb Street), and the Camden Battlefield Memorial at 1698 Flat Rock Road. Click here for details.
On Saturday, April 22, 2023, the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust will conduct a military funeral for Revolutionary soldiers’ bodily remains discovered in 2022 at the Battle of Camden. Due to the national importance of this event and an overwhelming response from people desiring to attend and pay their respects to these soldiers, many downtown streets will be closed and public parking restricted between 8:00 am and 1:00 pm on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
The public is welcome to watch the cortege along Broad Street, which will leave Historic Camden via Bull Street at 9:00 am, continue up Broad Street/U.S. 521 to East DeKalb Street, where the funeral at Bethesda Presbyterian Church will begin at 11:00 am. Broad Street between Ehrenclou and DeKalb Streets will be closed to vehicle traffic from 8:30 am to approximately 10:00 am. No parking will be allowed on Broad Street until after it reopens at approximately 10:00 a.m. East DeKalb Street between Broad and Lyttleton Streets will be closed to vehicle traffic from approximately 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Please see the image below for anticipated detour routes.
Public Parking will be available at designated areas in and around Historic Camden, 222 Broad Street, for those wishing to attend the cortege and funeral at Bethesda Presbyterian Church. Parking is restricted at the battlefield reburial ceremony. There attendees must register at www.camdenburials.org to obtain a free parking permit. Information about other activities and events during the week can be found at www.camdenburials.org.
This spring, the Camden Rotary Club will resume the practice of planting trees in honor of deceased members. Working in conjunction with the City of Camden, the Rotary Club will plant crepe myrtles in the median on U.S. Hwy 521 between I-20 and Historic Camden on an annual basis for those who passed the year prior, for the foreseeable future. That includes those who were Rotarians at the time of their death, or members who were active until they had to resign for medical reasons or for family reasons, moved to a retirement facility, moved to be near family, etc.
Thanks to the Camden Rotary Club, magnificent stands of magnolia trees graces U.S Hwy 1 and Haile Street, and these trees serve as a living memorial to deceased members of the Rotary Club. The trees were planted annually and biannually in the 1940s and 1950s, but the program was discontinued soon thereafter. As part of the Rotary International 75th anniversary celebration, the practice of planting magnolias in honor of deceased Rotarians was resumed in 1980, and now those trees grace both sides of U.S. Hwy 521/Broad Street near Historic Camden.
With this new partnership, Camden Rotary will cover the expense of purchasing the trees, and the City of Camden staff will plant them. If members of the community wish to honor a Rotarian who passed away earlier than this previous year with a tree planting, the cost to do so is $400. For more information, contact Debbie Elliott at 910-471-3181 or debbie@grahamrealtyinc.com.
