Carol Martin didn’t grow up wanting a career in law enforcement. A teacher, maybe. Or an accountant. But not a police officer. And certainly not a police chief.
But after a few criminal justice classes at Brenau University and a couple of ride-alongs with Gainesville police officers, the law enforcement bug hit. She joined the Gainesville police department in 1987 and stayed 32 years. On Thursday, she retires as the city’s police chief, the first woman to hold the job.
“It just feels right,” Martin said of her impending retirement. “Talking with (former Chief Frank Hooper), he always told me I’ll know when it’s the right time. I’ve accomplished everything I wanted on my checklist, and it’s just time. I want more time with my family and with my friends.”
Although she’s wrapping up four years as chief, the top job was never something she envisioned for herself.
“I never imagined it happening,” Martin said. “I never thought I would be. It was never in my dreams. It was never a goal of mine. I just wanted to be a patrol officer.”
Which is just what she did for more than six years. Martin started in patrol in 1987, a year before she graduated from Brenau. In 1993, she moved into the Criminal Investigations Division, where she investigated cases that had the most profound effect on her – cases involving juveniles and cases involving sexual assaults. In 1998, she was promoted to sergeant and later commanded the unit.
In August 2014, she was named the interim police chief following the resignation of then-Chief Brian Kelly. She took over officially in January 2015.
Kelly’s tenure had been marked by low morale and growing frustrations among the rank-and-file officers. Many officers today credit Martin with turning around the department. But she’s more matter-of-fact about her tenure.
“That was my job to do that,” she said. “I think we’ve come together as a family. It’s sometimes a dysfunctional family. Like any family, you have good times and bad times. But it was important to let people have a voice and trust them to do their jobs. If you can’t trust them to do their jobs, you don’t need them.
She’s confident her successor, Jay Parrish, will continue to keep the department strong.
“I have watched Jay grow up in this department,” Martin said. “I’ve supervised him. Wherever Jay works, he does his best. He cares for the people. I’m sure when Jay Parrish finishes, (the department) will be in a better place than when he started.”
From those early ride-alongs to her final days in office, Martin acknowledges a flood of memories. At each stage of her career, she said, there are cases she remembers.
Like the murder of a man on Dorsey Street not long after she joined the department. She was one of the first officers to respond, and she arrested the suspect on the land where the city’s Public Safety Complex – and her office – is now located.
“You go back to your training,” she said. “I’d learned from my sergeants how to respond to calls. So we found his guy and got him on the ground not long after he had killed his buddy.”
Other cases weigh more heavily on her mind. Not long after she had had her own child, she investigated a case of child abuse, where an 18-month-old suffered third-degree burns and the mother and her boyfriend waited two days to get medical attention for the child.
“That one affected me because I’d just had a child,” she said. “I was able to put (the mother) and the boyfriend in jail. And hopefully the child is doing well today.”
Investigating crimes against juveniles and against women became a passion for Martin. She was a founding member of the Edmonson-Telford Child Advocacy Center and she served on the board of directors for Rape Response.
“It’s important to me to help kids whose parents are beating them or guardians are beating them for no reason other than they spilled milk or something,” she said. “We have so many cases like that.”
How did she manage to investigate so many of these crimes without it affecting her mental health?
“For me, it was talking,” she said. “You just don’t let it live in your mind forever. But some of them do. When working the dead bodies, like right before you go sleep, it’s like a revolving mirror of all the ones you’ve worked before. But I’ve always had a good outlet of friends who let me talk and my family. And God, praying to him.”
Being the first female chief of police in Gainesville is a point of pride for Martin. But she insists it’s not something that she or any of her officers focus on.
“The community has been so receptive,” she said. “It’s nice having women come up and thank me and such. All I’ve done is to do each job the best I can. ... I know it is something special for the department and for me. There are a lot more women chiefs in other areas. It’s nice to be the first here.”
Martin leaves the profession she loves at a time when the perception of law enforcement officers in some parts of the country isn’t good. Officer-involved shootings are increasing, and protests are happening in some cities over police brutality.
But Martin believes most officers do a good job and have the best interests of their community at heart. She has worked diligently to increase community policing efforts to get officers into neighborhoods at times other than when crimes have occurred. She believes that if residents and officers know each other, there will be more respect and less likelihood of problems.
“We know it only takes one bad officer,” she said. “That’s why we stress the high standards we have.”
She also believes the public, especially in Gainesville, overwhelmingly support the police.
“I think we have a silent majority in this country, especially in this community,” she said. “They send thank-you notes, they bring items, they stop by. I don’t know how many lunches have been bought for our officers. It’s a very noble profession, and I think the people in Gainesville know it.”
Now as she prepares to leave her office for the last time on Thursday – her office is already empty – Martin knows there will be tears. But she’s ready. She plans to relax for a while. Two cruises are on the horizon. And then she hopes to continue to volunteer in the community, especially at the Edmonson-Telford Center so she can continue to help children. And she’ll miss the men and women of the Gainesville Police Department.
“But it’s time,” she says, with a slight smile. “It’s time.”
Editor's note: Martin will be honored at a Jan. 31 reception from 2-4 p.m. at the Gainesville Civic Center
