New York police officer Kevin Martin is no stranger to allegations, charges and convictions of misconduct, both against civilians, and in one case, against his own superior. Over the course of his 16 years on the force, he managed to rack up 34 complaints of misconduct and six civil suits.
In hot water
Those allegations and charges did not stop him from engaging in actions that ultimately led to his arrest. He was charged with official misconduct and evidence tampering for recreating his alleged investigative actions during a traffic stop. Although he had a body camera during the stop, it did not disclose any gun or drugs during the initial vehicle search. Later, after his body camera was removed, a gun was allegedly found in a tennis shoe. So with the help of his partner and his body camera, he broke protocol and re-enacted the discovery.
Later, his then-partner revealed this information to the District Attorney’s office in Queens, NY which, in turn, prompted an investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau of NYPD. Although Officer Martin defended his actions, he was arrested in 2020 and charged.
On the wrong side of the law
Past charges against him include illegal stops and frisks and false arrests. He received so many civilian complaints that his department was monitoring him with “Level 2 Force Monitoring.” He even broke rank and received a charge of insubordination for disrespecting a lieutenant when told to decrease his overtime hours. His untoward actions have cost the taxpayers more than one million dollars to date.
Despite his promises to uphold the law and protect and serve, Officer Martin’s actions paint a very different picture. Despite his claims of innocence regarding his current charges, he could get up to four years in prison, if convicted.