Camden People - Leroy Palmer

LEROY G. PALMER was born in Camden, New Jersey on November 3, 1951 to Ralph Howard Palmer and his wife, the former Peggy Pierce. His father was a member of the Camden Fire Department, having begun his service as a firefighter on January 1, 1951. Leroy Palmer's great-uncle, Allen Palmer, had served for 23 years before retiring on pension in 1941. His great-great-uncle, Allen I. Palmer, served Camden as a mounted policeman from 1906 until his death resulting from injuries received in the line of duty in 1917.

Besides Leroy, the family included two brothers, Ralph H. Palmer Jr. and William M. Palmer. The family lived at 2410 Patton Street in the early 1950s and 582 Auburn Street in the late 1950s. By 1974 they had moved to Turnersville, New Jersey.

Leroy Palmer served for many years on the Camden Police Department, putting his life on the line for the betterment of the people of the city. Due to retire in the summer of 1999, his career in law enforcement unfortunately came to an end when on February 13,

1998 he was one of three law enforcement officers shot and wounded at the corner of Bank and Boyd Street in East Camden. Lieutenant Palmer was coordinating a sting operations, where those who come to Camden to buy illegal drugs are caught and prosecuted. Unfortunately, one of those whose actions caused himself to be arrested decided to pull out a gun and fire on the arresting officers. State Trooper Joseph Badecki was shot in the arm. Lieutenant Palmer was shot in the side, puncturing a lung and stopped near his spine. Another bullet grazed the head of Camden County Detective David Lick police. The shooter was in turn killed by those whose lives he attempted to take. Lieutenant Palmer was left permanently paralyzed.

Camden police detective Dennis Gormley wrote the following shortly after the incident:

Lt. Leroy Palmer was shot and paralyzed from the waist down and is now confined to a wheelchair.

The incident took place during a drug sting operation and the shooter was SHOT AND KILLED.

As always, the family of the shooter informed the local newspaper that he wasn't an angel but they can't believe he would be involved in something like this. At least they didn't say he was trying to get his life together.

You know the old story----"Oh, he was really trying to straighten his life out and wanted to go back to school and become a computer programmer."

The shooter in this case was just what you think he was. A COP KILLER WHO DIDN'T QUITE MAKE IT.

LEE just attended the annual Special Olympics Golf Tournament held at Centerton Golf Club August 17th.

LEE has been involved in Special Olympics for a few years now. He, along with a couple of other guys, do the cooking at the Olympics.

He also is involved in the POLAR BEAR event in Atlantic City. That is where a bunch of people jump into the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the winter for charitable support of the Olympics. LEE said it will be no problem this year as long as he only has to go in to his waist.

LEE can't wait to get on the course next year and pound the golf ball around not only for his own rehab but to help those who are in need. If a guy who is paralyzed can think of kids and adults in need then I think the rest of us can do something to support this great cause.

Leroy Palmer remained in South Jersey into the 2010s and though wheelchair bound, stayed active in community affairs. His last years were spent in Skippack, Pennsylvania, where he passed away on December 24, 2019.

New York Times * March 1, 1998

JERSEY; Where Disney World Meets Camden

By JOE SHARKEY

EVERYBODY does it, Elaine Bey had insisted. Stealing from the schools of Camden, a city whose children are the poorest in the country, was no big deal, she seemed to believe.

This attitude became breathtakingly clear one day last September, when Mrs. Bey, 55, strolled out of a Federal courtroom in Newark after pleading guilty to misusing school system money to treat herself and others to restaurants, liquor, entertainment, car rentals and personal vacations while she was president of the Camden School Board.

Outside the courtroom, a reporter asked what she was going to do now.

''I'm going to the ladies' room,'' she declared brightly, smiling into the cameras. ''And then I'm going to Disney World!''

Now Mrs. Bey will have to wait a while to take that vacation, as she is due to report to prison on March 30 to begin a five-month sentence that was imposed on her in January by a Federal judge. The judge also ordered her to pay back more than $23,000 in school system funds, and serve five months of house arrest after she gets out of jail.

If there were a criminal indictment of America's miserably failed urban policies, the city of Camden -- which stubbornly posted a 63 percent increase in homicides last year as the murder rate plunged almost everywhere else -- would be entered in evidence at the trial and labeled ''the smoking gun.'' Ordinarily, the amazing audacity exhibited by a school board president who steals and laughs it off could be shrugged off as just another of the incremental outrages in Camden, a city of about 80,000 that has been systematically pillaged by one political regime after another for the past 50 years and now stands out as perhaps the most wretched, God-forsaken city in America.

In this case, however, that brazen taunt -- ''I'm going to Disney World!'' -- was still very fresh in mind recently when I got a phone call telling me that Leroy Palmer -- a Camden police lieutenant who grew up in the city, attended its public schools and whose career ambition was to be a good cop -- had been shot and critically wounded while coming to another officer's aid during an undercover drug stakeout that went very bad, very fast, on the night of February 13.

All of a sudden, a few tiny disconnected wires in the tangled skein of abstract news touched and sparked with a personal jolt. Lieutenant Palmer's younger brother, Ralph, is married to my kid sister, Susan.

A Camden police officer for 23 years, Lieutenant Palmer, 46, went down in a gun battle at an East Camden intersection. The corner at Bank and Boyd Streets is a notorious drug market where dealers do a brisk business selling to customers who drive in from the suburbs to do the only shopping that still brings out-of-towners into Camden.

Lieutenant Palmer was coordinating the stakeout from an unmarked car just up the block. Dozens of arrests had already been made, and now the undercover officers were almost at the end of their tour.

Just before 11 P.M., though, a 38-year-old Williamstown man, informed that he was under arrest for buying crack cocaine from two undercover officers on the corner, pulled out a revolver and started firing. Joseph Badecki, 35, a state trooper, was the first one shot, in the arm. Tumbling out of the car, Lieutenant Palmer ran to the scene and was struck by a bullet that went through his side, pierced a lung and lodged near his spine. David Lick, 28, a detective with the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, was grazed on the head by another bullet.

The suspect, Byran Girard, was killed as the officers returned fire. The other two officers were treated and released at Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center. As of the other day, however, Lieutenant Palmer was still in critical condition at Cooper, breathing with the aid of a respirator -- and forcing himself to contemplate the horrible possibility that he may never walk again.

Lieutenant Palmer is known, personally and professionally, as an easygoing, decent man with a ready laugh. His wife, Terry, and his two children, Matt, 15, and Kristin, 12, are the center of his life. He was due for retirement in 16 months. After that, he and his wife had planned to move with their children to North Carolina.

''He's a fighter,'' said Ralph Palmer, 40, who grew up believing that his older brother could do anything, and who now believes that he will manage to get back on his feet before long. ''If anybody can do it, he can,'' he said.

Incidentally, Leroy Palmer loved to take his family to vacations in Florida, including Disney World.

The fervent hope here, as a cop who went down a hero on a thankless job tries to put a life back together, is that Leroy Palmer takes his family on that trip once again -- and that they get there first.

Obituary of Leroy G. Palmer

Leroy Palmer, 68, of Skippack PA, formally Berlin, NJ, passed on December 24, 2019, in Skippack PA. He was the beloved husband and best friend of Theresa Palmer.

Born November 3, 1951, in Camden NJ, was the son of the late Ralph Palmer. He was a retired police Lieutenant with the Camden Police Department. Lieutenant Palmer was shot in the line of duty in 1998 and was left a paraplegic. Lee’s passion for life was remarkable and paramount. He was a devoted father and big pop-pop. Lee’s greatest satisfaction was being surrounded by family and friends, as well as the many friends who supported and stood by him all these years.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son Matthew Palmer, daughter in law Jill Palmer, grandchildren Jacob Lee and Reese Kelly of PA, daughter Krista Palmer of NJ, Mother Ella Palmer, and two brothers all of NJ. Lee was a devoted volunteer with Special Olympics and a Mason.

Relatives and friends are invited to greet the family from 10:00 a.m -11-30 a.m on Friday, January 3, 2020, at the R.L. Williams JR. Funeral Home Inc. 3440 Skippack Pike. Cedars PA 19423. In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation in memory of his name to the Camden County Hero Scholarship Fund. 162 W. White Horse Pike, Berlin NJ,08009. www.Camdencountyhero.com