FBI probes whether Camden police stole from dealers

The FBI is investigating allegations that three Camden police officers stole money and narcotics from drug dealers, according to several law enforcement sources.

The three officers were suspended without pay last week. At least four other officers and supervisors are also being investigated. "It's a very serious case," a person familiar with the investigation said.

Camden Police Chief Scott Thomson confirmed that Officers Jason Stetser, Kevin Parry, and Antonio Figueroa had been suspended but did not provide details. Neither the FBI nor the Camden County Prosecutor's Office would comment on the matter. The officers' union lawyer did not return a call seeking comment.

It is highly unusual to suspend an officer who has not been arrested.

"Until they are formally charged by a law enforcement entity, their suspension should be with pay," said John Williamson, president of the officers union, the Camden Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 1.

According to three former supervisors of the officers, the men have been under investigation for more than a year for allegedly stealing drugs and money in the course of making arrests. They were described as hard-charging members of an anticrime task force and were known for their success in getting guns and drugs off the streets.

If any of the officers is convicted of wrongdoing, the drug cases they worked on - estimated by one supervisor to be hundreds - could be subject to court challenge.

Lt. Jim Phillips, a former SWAT team leader who was a night-watch commander when he retired from the Camden force this year, supervised two of the accused officers at one time and said he had not been aware of any problems with their work. He said one officer had faced death threats from drug dealers.

Two other former supervisors concurred with that assessment.

Phillips said he learned of a possible investigation in October 2008, when Stetser and Parry were dispatched to a crime scene at Broadway and Viola.

The officers reported to Phillips that they found a black Mazda with three bags of drugs in the center console, plus more drugs and $400 in cash stashed in a fake canister of WD-40 lubricant in the glove compartment.

The officers then heard a "click-click" sound coming from an alley, and spotted a telephoto camera lens sticking out of a church window, Phillips said. After reporting that to headquarters, the officers were told to leave and respond to reports of gunshots elsewhere in the city.

The drugs turned out to be phony, Phillips said.

The officers' suspicions that they had been lured into a trap were further raised when they ran the vehicle identification number of the black Mazda. It turned out to be an unmarked Gloucester Township police car.

"I think we're getting set up," Phillips said the officers told him a few hours later, when he reported to duty for the midnight shift. "They didn't understand what was happening," he added.

Gloucester Township police have declined to comment on the incident, citing the investigation.

Phillips - whose 38 years with the department made him its longest-serving officer when he retired - recorded the events in two internal memos, which he provided to The Inquirer in late March.

He also recounted the incident to his supervisor, Capt. Pat Hall, who corroborated the story in an interview with The Inquirer.

In the ensuing months, Phillips and Hall retired.

It is unclear what law enforcement agency was involved in that alleged sting operation. However, the FBI typically does not conduct undercover operations with vehicles registered to state or federal government agencies. It often uses rented vehicles or cars registered in the names of undercover companies or agents.

Attempts to reach the suspended Camden officers were unsuccessful.