CAMDEN — The state's poorest and most dangerous city is trying to bounce back from deep cuts to public safety, announcing plans today to rehire 50 police officers and 15 firefighters.



The positions will be paid for by $2.5 million from the South Jersey Port Corporation, which makes regular payments to Camden in return for using city land tax-free.



But Mayor Dana Redd said rehiring some officers is only a stopgap measure as officials explore the possibility of regionalizing public safety functions.



"In difficult fiscal times like these, we must work harder, be more creative and realistic to find the best, most cost-effective ways to meet our public safety obligations," she said in a statement. "I pledge to continue working with the governor's office and county and local officials to find and implement a regionalized public safety and shared services plan."



Camden laid off 168 officers in January, almost every one hired since 1998. Today's announcement brings the net loss from layoffs to 118 officers.



The cuts required Chief Scott Thomson to shift more officers from administrative tasks to street duty. Many investigative duties have shifted to the county prosecutor's office.



So far this year, violent crime has increased 20 percent thanks to a sharp spike in shootings, according to statistics from the prosecutor's office. There were 89 aggravated assaults with a firearm as of March 15. Burglaries also jumped 61 percent.



The rehiring of 15 firefighters also helps mitigate cuts to the fire department, which lost 67 firefighters in January. More than 30 officers are also slated to be rehired with $5.1 million in federal funds.



Redd met with Gov. Chris Christie and the mayors of Newark and Camden last month to discuss ways to pool public safety resources.



"It's time for all of us to assert leadership and work together on a new approach to combine and maximize public safety resources, eliminate redundancies and inefficiencies, and provide a long-term solution to create a new and strong public safety network," Christie said today in a statement.

Previous coverage:

• Camden mayor plans to make public safety announcement

• Editorial: Camden needs rescue from regional police

• Camden struggles with lack of manpower due to police, firefighter layoffs

• Mass police, firefighter layoffs begin in Camden



• Guardian Angels to send members to Camden in light of police layoffs

• Large cuts in staff for Camden, Newark police could threaten anti-crime progress



• Camden considers the effects of pending police layoffs

• N.J. approves plan to lay off more than 300 Camden public workers