CAMDEN, Ark. — Law enforcement in Camden has been dealing with a troubling few weeks of violence, and right now detectives are investigating two back-to-back homicides that happened in the same week.
Camden Police Department's Interim Police Chief, Royce Carpenter, explained how having back-to-back incidents is unusual but how it's also not out of the ordinary to see an increase in crime during the summer months.
"It's not unusual for us to have some spikes or peaks during the summer months. I don't think there is any reason to be alarmed or concerned about any type of crime increase," he added.
According to the department's semi-annual activity report, from 2022 to 2024 crime in the area has stayed consistent in relation to homicides and has gone down over the years in other categories like rape, robbery, and assault.
"It remains rather constant without any major increase in any category, and obviously we will maintain a 24-hour patrol, so we have officers that are out there," Chief Carpenter described.
However, a category the department has been seeing some issues in is staffing. Which is something that Chief Carpenter said they have been working on for quite some time.
"We're shorthanded. It is something that we're trying to work on. We have some vacancies to hire at least two in the next week," Chief Carpenter said.
He also explained how all of the incidents are considered to be isolated and asked the community to reach out to their department if they need help.
"It can happen anywhere so it's always a good idea to be vigilant about things and if they see anything they feel is suspicious to call in and report that," he said.