This month, she became director of Camden's new Office of Prevention and Reentry, a one-woman show aimed at helping residents reintegrate into society after prison. She also will work with at-risk youths to keep them on the right path.
The city has more than 700 residents on parole, one of the highest per-capita rates in the state, Police Chief Scott Thomson said.
Since opening in March 2010, Opportunity Reconnect - a reentry center associated with the Sen. Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers-Camden - has helped about 1,000 ex-offenders find jobs and housing, and aided them in securing privileges, such as a driver's license, that most people take for granted, center director Joseph Cassisi said.
Thomas met the Opportunity Reconnect crew on Thursday and will work with it, along with other groups and agencies in the city, to coordinate services for ex-inmates and try to curb recidivism.
The tough former officer, who was honored at Camden's recent Women of Purpose awards as a positive role model, was approached about her new position after she decided to retire from the force, city officials said.
"If anyone could clear a corner, Rhoda could," Redd said, yet she had a gentle touch with youths and the elderly.
Everywhere Thomas goes, people call her name, Redd said.
Born and raised in Camden, Thomas graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1976. After earning an associate degree in law enforcement from Camden County College in the early 1980s, she worked briefly as a substitute teacher in the Camden School District.
She then decided to follow in her uncles' footsteps and become a police officer. She graduated from the Police Academy on April 3, 1986.
"It was not a good time," she said. As one of only two women on the force, she said, she had to work harder to gain her male colleagues' respect.
