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Former Camden police detective gets probation for harassment and tampering

A former Camden police detective, once a mayoral bodyguard, was sentenced Friday to a year of probation for "offensively" touching women and filing false police reports.

A former Camden police detective, once a mayoral bodyguard, was sentenced Friday to a year of probation for "offensively" touching women and filing false police reports.

Keith Hicks, 51, had been on the force for 19 years and "served the community well" before violating the public's trust, Superior Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder said.

In March, Hicks pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment and one count of tampering with or fabricating evidence related to three cases. Prosecutors said Hicks had offensively touched two women and ordered a third to undress.

On Friday, the judge said the public expected officers to serve as role models. "You let your community down by what has taken place and you have probably let yourself down and your family down," Snyder said, noting that if Hicks violated probation, he would face 20 months in jail.

Hicks, wearing a navy suit and a blue-and-white striped tie, said little in the Camden courtroom, where he appeared with his wife and Moorestown attorney William Buckman.

"He has lost a great deal by entering into this plea agreement," Buckman told the judge, noting the Gloucester Township resident has given up his job and can never again work as a police officer.

Camden County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Chase said his office would take no position on whether Hicks should receive his pension, already significantly reduced because he fell short of serving at least 20 years. State pension officials could determine he must forfeit that benefit because of his misconduct.

"We wanted to take away his badge," Chase said. "The important thing to us was to make sure he wasn't in a position again to use his office or his badge to victimize people."

Hicks, once a bodyguard for Mayor Gwendolyn Faison, was suspended without pay in August after allegations surfaced about his conduct.

On April 4 and July 9, while he was off-duty but in uniform, Hicks allegedly ordered two women into his personal vehicle and touched them sexually, authorities said. One of the women was charged with loitering.

On Aug. 3, according to officials, Hicks was on duty when he picked up a third woman who was wanted on a warrant. While in his squad car, prosecutors said, Hicks demanded she partly undress before she was brought in for processing.

In that case, Hicks was accused of faking information in his police log, reporting he had picked the woman up at Mount Ephraim Avenue and Sheridan Street. Chase said the woman was picked up at Sixth and Royden Streets, then driven around the city for 45 minutes.

In March, Buckman said, Hicks tried to persuade the woman to get off drugs and to stop frequenting drug-infested neighborhoods.