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Camden police dispatcher faces murder charge

A Camden City police dispatcher was being held at the Camden County jail yesterday on a charge that she conspired to commit murder, according to jail officials.

A Camden City police dispatcher was being held at the Camden County jail yesterday on a charge that she conspired to commit murder, according to jail officials.

Marilyn Barreto, 35, of the 2200 block of Mulford Avenue in Pennsauken, was arrested early Thursday during a series of police raids that led to arrests and the collection of guns and large quantities of drugs, a city official said.

During one raid, state troopers dropped out of helicopters to surprise drug dealers at Northgate I, a high-rise apartment building next to the Ben Franklin Bridge that has long attracted crime.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation.

Police officials yesterday would not explain if Barreto used her position within the department to commit the alleged crime. They also did not detail the circumstances behind the raids.

"The Camden Police Department is committed to providing our citizens and business owners a safe community, and to that end we are leveraging every resource that is available to us," said Police Inspector Mike Lynch.

Barreto has worked for the Camden Police Department since July 2004, earning $46,299 per year, according to city data provided to the state Department of Personnel.

A teary-eyed man who answered the door at her house said he had no comment yesterday.

Barreto was being held on $300,000 bail.

"I think this is a good start, and it's not the end," said Council President Angel Fuentes of the raid on Northgate I, which he said has become a dangerous place to live.

"These people are, like, five steps ahead of law enforcement, so it's combat. We're allowing the Prosecutor's Office, the attorney general and the Camden police to go after these people. . . . There are 20, 21 stories, and we're going to go inside, apartment by apartment," he said.

Councilman Gilbert "Whip" Wilson, a former city police officer, said he was saddened that an employee of the department had been accused of a crime.

"Any time somebody who's entrusted in public safety in the city, whether it be police, fire or dispatchers - any time that public trust is not held up the way it should be, it's a sad day," he said.

"That having been said, I still have complete confidence in the men and women of the Camden Police Department."