Truancy Patrol in Camden

If you're a student in Camden, and you skip school, it's getting tougher to outrun the new truancy patrol.

NBC 10 rode along with police Tuesday as they rounded up Camden students playing hooky. School officials said that since the truancy program began, they have seen a 50 percent drop in the number of students skipping classes.

"There's an ordinance in the city that says no one under 16 should be on the streets between 8:30 and 3 o'clock. They identify them and we have other people who pick them up and bring them back to the Broadway Center, they log them in, they take them to their schools, and they call the parents and issue summonses for court," said Bart Leff, a school district spokesperson.

Tuesday's sweep was the first of a four-day roundup of truant students.

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