Downey : Police Chief Will Retire
Downey Police Chief William Martin has announced that he will retire July 22 after heading the city’s 107-member force for more than nine years. Martin, 51, was a captain in the South Gate Police Department before he became Downey’s police chief on Jan. 4, 1978. He started as a patrolman in South Gate in 1957.
“I decided 30 years of this business was enough,” said Martin, a Downey resident. “It was a long time to care for people’s problems and it’s time for me to have a little freedom.”
Martin and his wife, Katy, plan to move to Lake Tahoe, where they will finish a house they began building last summer. They have six children.
The police chief, who filled in as Downey’s interim city manager from November, 1982, to May, 1983, said he plans to start a management consulting business.
The City Charter calls for City Manager Don Davis to select a new police chief, who must be confirmed by the City Council.
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