"We believe this is something that should not be left to people in a back room," Camden Fraternal Order of Police President John Williamson said at a news conference outside City Hall Wednesday afternoon. "This is a democratic society."
The announcement came the day after Camden City Council passed a resolution urging Redd to move quickly on the proposal for a takeover by Camden County.
The city homicide rate has climbed sharply this year, a consequence, critics say, of the decision to lay off about half the police force in January, though many officers have since been rehired.
Backers of the county takeover say it would help nearly double the size of the cash-strapped city's existing department, in part by hiring officers at lower salaries.
That has drawn the ire of the unions that have characterized the plan - which would dissolve the existing department and rehire no more than 49 percent of those officers for the new force - as nothing more than a union-busting maneuver.
"This whole process is a charade," said New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police president Ed Brannigan. "They're going to pick and choose which officers they bring back. Partly on age; partly on union involvement."
The plan has seemed nearly certain to be enacted since Redd, under pressure from Gov. Christie, agreed weeks ago to move ahead on the deal with the county.
But the question hanging over the union's plan is whether the county takeover of a city police force is a valid question for a municipal referendum. Ballot questions typically deal with issues such as alcohol consumption and business hours.
Camden County spokeswoman Joyce Gabriel said lawyers there were looking into that question but declined to comment further. Redd's office also declined to comment.
Matt Weng, a lawyer with the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said it was unclear whether the proposed takeover of a police force could be put to a referendum.
