PORT ANGELES — Retiring Clallam County Sheriff’s Sgt. Monty Martin had some sage advice for young law enforcement officers: Do the right thing one day at a time.
Martin, a 30-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, received the Sheriff’s Star award in a farewell ceremony at the county commissioners’ meeting in Port Angeles on Tuesday.
The presentation in the Clallam County Courthouse was attended by sheriff’s deputies, Port Angeles police and Sequim police.
“Thank you, folks,” Martin said.
“Like I said at my retirement party, I owe this all to you.
“I look at my past 35-plus years of service in law enforcement, and I go ‘how did I do it?
‘One day at a time’
“And for you young guys, or you guys that are not young but have years to go,” Martin continued, “it’s one day at a time doing the right thing.”
During the course of his career, Martin received three merit awards, two meritorious service awards, the Lifesaving Medal and the Purple Heart.
Commissioner Mike Doherty on Tuesday presented Martin with a traditional etching of the old courthouse that is given to longtime county employees.
Martin, 64, had been the oldest active-duty sheriff’s employee for the past year, Sheriff Bill Benedict said.
Benedict, a former naval aviator, recalled a Navy tradition in which the oldest aviator is known as the gray eagle.
“We wanted to institute something like that, but eagle was taken, so we went with gray buzzard,” Benedict joked, as the audience roared in laughter.
Martin moved to the North Olympic Peninsula with his wife, Maureen, and their children in 1980.
Since March 1980
He joined the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office in March 1980.
Prior to that, he had worked for five years as a deputy sheriff in Marin County, Calif.
Martin began his career on the Peninsula as a forest products deputy in the West End detachment. He was promoted to sergeant in 1985.
As a detective sergeant, Martin investigated the 1993 double murder case of Darold Stenson.
A jury found Stenson guilty in 1994 of killing his wife and business partner at a bird farm near Sequim. Stenson was sentenced to death and has remained on death row for the past 16 years.
Benedict said Martin’s “keen, analytical mind led to investigations where he played a crucial role in many high-profile cases.”
Martin was most recently in the news during a hearing on evidence that produced a report by Clallam County Superior Court Judge Ken Williams to the state Supreme Court, which will decide if Stenson should receive a new trial.
As lead investigator on the Stenson case, Martin was photographed wearing Stenson’s blood-stained pants. He posed for the photograph at the request of a contracted forensic examiner who wanted to see if Stenson could have gotten blood on the pants by kneeling by the victims.
In his report to the state’s high court, Williams agreed with Stenson’s attorneys that wearing the pants contaminated gun residue tests conducted on the contents of the pockets.
Williams also said that he believed Stenson would be found guilty without the results of the test.
FBI academy
Martin graduated from the FBI National Academy in 2008.
“Although we only got to use his expertise for two years, it was very valuable,” Benedict said.
As a staff sergeant, Martin trained deputies and shared his expertise in communications.
He was a “prime mover” in the department’s field training officer program for the past 20 years, Benedict said.
About 200 people attended a farewell party for Martin on Saturday.
“Sgt. Martin has been an exceptionally stable, reliable and consistent member of the management team of the sheriff’s office for over 30 years,” Benedict said, while reading the Sheriff’s Star citation.
“He has remained steadfastly true and loyal to his calling in law enforcement through the tenure of four difference sheriffs and a wide variety of challenging assignments.”
