Vice Unit

Three members of the Camden vice squad, which has been accused by an East Camden man of stealing money during a drug raid, were scheduled to be transferred today in a reorganization of the unit. The restructuring follows a confidential memo to Camden police by the state Attorney General's Office saying that the vice squad routinely failed to follow proper procedures in the search and seizure of evidence, police and city officials said. The transfer of three police officers - half of the permanently assigned squad - comes three weeks after drug charges were dismissed in the case of Kevin Pratt, 22, of Camden, who said $4,000 was taken from him during a drug raid by members of the vice squad.

A 41-year-old Center City woman was arrested Tuesday and charged with prostitution after soliciting undercover police for sex. Star Guiterrez, 41, worked at Cuties Spa on the 1100 block of Race Street near the Convention Center. Officers from the vice unit staged a sting at the establishment after receiving complaints that illicit sexual acts were being performed there, police said.

Fifteen men were arrested and $25,000 in cash was confiscated by members of the Philadelphia police vice unit in citywide raids of alleged sports-betting rings in nine locations yesterday, detectives said. The suspects, whose identities were not immediately released, were thought to be independent operators with no ties to organized crime, sources said. However, the investigation was continuing. The suspects, charged with poolmaking and conducting illegal lotteries, were awaiting arraignment at the Police Administration Building, 8th and Race streets.

No comment? The vice unit of the Police Department of the City of Sacramento writes the Golden Grain Company of Seattle to tell them that one of their long-haul drivers has been doing business with one of the local girls on Stockton Boulevard. The driver, who was never arrested or charged or even confronted in Sacramento, arrives home and finds that he has been fired. The driver is middle-aged and married, and he goes right to his union, which gets him reinstated with only the forfeiture of half a week's pay - negligence in forgetting to lock the truck is what they finally settle on - then he goes to his wife, and then he gets an attorney.

Following an undercover investigation by state police, four men from the Oxford area are in Chester County Prison, charged with the possession and distribution of cocaine. "This is the third major drug-dealing organization that the state police have developed cases against in the southern part of the county," Chester County District Attorney Anthony Sarcione said yesterday. The investigation took place over six months and involved the vice unit in Lancaster County, the Kennett Square and Oxford Police Departments, and the District Attorney's Office.

Twenty-three people, half of them residing in the suburbs, were arrested Wednesday at a well-known high-traffic drug corner in North Camden and charged with loitering for the purpose of buying drugs. Lt. Joseph Richardson, a spokesman for the Camden City police department, said seven detectives from the Vice Unit, staking out the corner of Fourth and York Streets at 4 p.m., first arrested Juan Santiago, 20, of the 200 block of South 34th Street, Camden, and charged him with illegal possession of drugs after watching him make an alleged drug sale.

Police said they confiscated nearly four pounds of cocaine yesterday morning from two men who had been under investigation for several weeks. Paul Johnson, 29, of Norwalk, Calif., and Fitz G. Adlam, 35, of the 1900 block of Park Boulevard, Camden, were arrested about 9 a.m. at Sayre Avenue and Hallowell Lane, Lt. Joseph Richardson said. When the men were arrested, Richardson said, police found nearly four pounds of cocaine with a street value between $150,000 and $250,000.

Howard Caldwell, former head of the Camden Police Department's vice unit, was convicted in Camden County Superior Court yesterday on one count of official misconduct in connection with a charge that he stole a car intended for city use. Caldwell, 39, a 15-year veteran of the force, had been suspended without pay since his indictment in March 1989. State law calls for him to lose his job upon sentencing, which is set for March 30 before Judge Joseph H. Greene Jr., according to Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Donna Spinosi.

Police yesterday announced that they had arrested 11 men, including five yesterday, at the Strawbridge's store in Center City and charged them with prostitution and public lewdness. Police said they began receiving calls from Strawbridge's managers last month complaining that men were having sex in the rest rooms on the second and sixth floors, said Lt. Charles Green of the vice unit. In some cases, the men were having sex out in the open, Green said, and on one occasion two men were seen by a 10-year-old boy who had been shopping with his father.

The undercover officers leaned against the the bar of the Downtowners Fancy Brigade clubhouse, taking in a swirl of beer, booze, hoagie platters, and about 20 alleged prostitutes working a roomful of men. A guy in the corner was pulling up his pants next to a naked woman. Others were openly engaging in sex acts. The cops ordered beers and shots. Beer was free. Liquor cost $3. A barman identified in a police affidavit as the Downtowners' financial secretary slapped down change: $17 in singles.

A 41-year-old Center City woman was arrested Tuesday and charged with prostitution after soliciting undercover police for sex. Star Guiterrez, 41, worked at Cuties Spa on the 1100 block of Race Street near the Convention Center. Officers from the vice unit staged a sting at the establishment after receiving complaints that illicit sexual acts were being performed there, police said.

The undercover officers leaned against the the bar of the Downtowners Fancy Brigade clubhouse, taking in a swirl of beer, booze, hoagie platters, and about 20 alleged prostitutes working a roomful of men. A guy in the corner was pulling up his pants next to a naked woman. Others were openly engaging in sex acts. The cops ordered beers and shots. Beer was free. Liquor cost $3. A barman identified in a police affidavit as the Downtowners' financial secretary slapped down change: $17 in singles.

Jose Dones was cruising for action on Spruce Street in Center City shortly after 1 a.m. yesterday when he spotted a 20-year-old transgendered woman, Brandy. He made eye contact. Brandy, standing more than 6 feet tall, allegedly shook her breasts and offered to perform sex acts for money. That's what Dones wanted to hear. She got in the car, but she was suspicious. She asked him to touch her breasts to prove he wasn't a cop. He refused. And so, at a corner of Broad and Spruce across from the Kimmel Center, the crown jewel of the Avenue of the Arts, Brandy jumped out of the car and ran, pumping furiously on her high heels.

Police yesterday announced that they had arrested 11 men, including five yesterday, at the Strawbridge's store in Center City and charged them with prostitution and public lewdness. Police said they began receiving calls from Strawbridge's managers last month complaining that men were having sex in the rest rooms on the second and sixth floors, said Lt. Charles Green of the vice unit. In some cases, the men were having sex out in the open, Green said, and on one occasion two men were seen by a 10-year-old boy who had been shopping with his father.

Following an undercover investigation by state police, four men from the Oxford area are in Chester County Prison, charged with the possession and distribution of cocaine. "This is the third major drug-dealing organization that the state police have developed cases against in the southern part of the county," Chester County District Attorney Anthony Sarcione said yesterday. The investigation took place over six months and involved the vice unit in Lancaster County, the Kennett Square and Oxford Police Departments, and the District Attorney's Office.

Police said they confiscated nearly four pounds of cocaine yesterday morning from two men who had been under investigation for several weeks. Paul Johnson, 29, of Norwalk, Calif., and Fitz G. Adlam, 35, of the 1900 block of Park Boulevard, Camden, were arrested about 9 a.m. at Sayre Avenue and Hallowell Lane, Lt. Joseph Richardson said. When the men were arrested, Richardson said, police found nearly four pounds of cocaine with a street value between $150,000 and $250,000.

Twenty-three people, half of them residing in the suburbs, were arrested Wednesday at a well-known high-traffic drug corner in North Camden and charged with loitering for the purpose of buying drugs. Lt. Joseph Richardson, a spokesman for the Camden City police department, said seven detectives from the Vice Unit, staking out the corner of Fourth and York Streets at 4 p.m., first arrested Juan Santiago, 20, of the 200 block of South 34th Street, Camden, and charged him with illegal possession of drugs after watching him make an alleged drug sale.

Thomas Mills, a plainsclothes police officer who has run the township's undercover narcotics and vice unit since the mid-1980s, was the surprise choice this week as the township's new police chief, beating out two higher- ranking officers. The Township Council confirmed Mills' appointment as police chief at a government reorganization meeting Monday night. Mills, 48, will replace John Tegzes, a powerful political force in the township for more than a decade, who is retiring Jan. 31. Township insiders said Mills' appointment had been pushed strongly by Tegzes - who has an affection for detective work and a close relationship with Mills.

Howard Caldwell, former head of the Camden Police Department's vice unit, was convicted in Camden County Superior Court yesterday on one count of official misconduct in connection with a charge that he stole a car intended for city use. Caldwell, 39, a 15-year veteran of the force, had been suspended without pay since his indictment in March 1989. State law calls for him to lose his job upon sentencing, which is set for March 30 before Judge Joseph H. Greene Jr., according to Assistant Camden County Prosecutor Donna Spinosi.

Three members of the Camden vice squad, which has been accused by an East Camden man of stealing money during a drug raid, were scheduled to be transferred today in a reorganization of the unit. The restructuring follows a confidential memo to Camden police by the state Attorney General's Office saying that the vice squad routinely failed to follow proper procedures in the search and seizure of evidence, police and city officials said. The transfer of three police officers - half of the permanently assigned squad - comes three weeks after drug charges were dismissed in the case of Kevin Pratt, 22, of Camden, who said $4,000 was taken from him during a drug raid by members of the vice squad.