Williamson, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1, said, "We may very well be" in the same place in 2011.
For now, Camden officers, like those in some of New Jersey's other cities, face deep cuts because of reductions in state aid from the Christie administration. Layoffs are expected elsewhere, and the threat of lost jobs hangs over the Camden force.
The roughly 390-member department that polices one of the nation's historically most dangerous cities has to cut $13.7 million in salaries and wages to help Camden plug a $28 million deficit for fiscal year 2011.
Mayor Dana L. Redd has ordered all departments to slash 24 percent of costs in time for a city budget to be introduced on Aug. 10. The cuts will be on top of one-day-a-week furloughs Redd imposed in the spring on nonuniformed employees and the loss of 23 workers laid off in 2008.
State aid has typically sustained the struggling city. But Camden expects $46.5 million this year from two state funds that last year doled out $54.1 million, Redd has said.
A third batch of discretionary state aid has also shrunk, so much so that Camden is applying for just $51 million after getting $71 million in the 2010 fiscal year.
But to be eligible for the $51 million the city seeks in Gov. Christie's newly named transitional aid pot, Camden is required to cut salaries and wages.
To mitigate possible layoffs, Redd said, she asked departments to offer budget-saving suggestions.
"The mayor . . . didn't say that layoffs were on the table, but she didn't say they were off the table, either," Williamson said.
Meanwhile, Camden officers are bracing for them.
"One layoff could create a danger to the citizens, let alone 50 to 100 layoffs," said an officer who declined to give his name because he was not authorized to speak with the media.
He added: "When you close your eyes on the Camden Police Department, you're exposing the citizens to an extreme amount of danger because we're already understaffed."
