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.
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.
APPLICATIONS FOR CITY ACCOMMODATIONS TAX GRANTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023-2024 MAY NOW BE SUBMITTED. APPLICATIONS ARE DUE AT CAMDEN CITY HALL BY 5 P.M., FRIDAY, APRIL 28TH, 2023. ACCESS THE WRITABLE PDF HERE 2023 – 2024 A-TAX GRANT APPLICATIONAND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS:
Accommodations Tax Grants are provided through revenue received by the City for its share of the 2% lodging tax levied by the State of South Carolina. These monies can only be used for activities related to tourism, including: advertising and promotion of tourism. promotion of the arts and cultural events. Entities applying for funding must be a non-profit organization, or represent a non-profit organization, registered with the Secretary of State of South Carolina. Read the 2023 -2024 A-TAX Grant Handbook here.
For detailed information regarding how State Accommodations Tax Funds can be spent, please refer to Section 6-4-10 of the South Carolina Code of Laws and the Department of Revenue’s official advisory opinion contained in the SC REVENUE Ruling #98-22. This information is available online at www.scstatehouse.gov. An Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee, mandated by the State of South Carolina, reviews applications and makes recommendations to City Council for the award of A-Tax funds. Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee members are selected from the hospitality and lodging industries, as well as from the community at large. Accommodations Tax expenditures are also reviewed by the State of South Carolina’s Tourism Expenditure Review Committee (TERC) who looks to distinguish between events attended primarily by those in the local community from those events that are designed for and attended primarily by non-residents who come from outside the community.
Questions should be directed to Suzi Sale, Tourism Director, 803-432-2421 or ssale@camdensc.org.
On Tuesday, March 28th, 2023, SCDOT will hold a public information meeting regarding proposed improvements to Black River Rd (S-12) in Kershaw County. The meeting will be held from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM at the Revolutionary War Visitor Center, located at 212 Broad Street, Camden, SC 29020. The meeting will have a drop-in type format with displays for viewing and citizens will have the opportunity to provide written comments. There will be no formal presentation at the meeting. Public information materials can be found and downloaded here.
Additional information concerning the project may be obtained by contacting Ken Martin Phone: (803) 737-1874 Email: MartinKE@scdot.org
Written comments can be provided in the following ways: Emailing your comments to: MartinKE@scdot.org Filling out a comment card and dropping it in the comment box at the Public Information Meeting Mailing comments to: Ken Martin, SCDOT Project Manager 955 Park Street, P.O. Box 191 Columbia, SC 29202-0191 Accessibility: Persons with disabilities who may require special accommodations contact Ms. Betty Gray at 803- 737-1395 or email at GrayB@scdot.org. To leave a comment, please contact SCDOT at 803-724-5862 or toll free at 888-468-8081. Para dejar un comentario, por favor comuníquese con el SCDOT al 803-724-5862 o gratis al 888-468-8081.
