Let me introduce myself

Let me introduce myself ...

 

My name is Joe Martin and I am a candidate for Perryville City Marshal — the Police Chief of Perryville Police Department.

I have been a police officer in the City of Perryville for 28 years. I’ve always been proud to say that. In the last year,  a lot of damage has been done to the reputation of our police department. I think I have the experience, work ethic, and the attitude to make us all proud of our police department again.

I was a member of the Class of 1977 at Perryville High School. I enlisted that spring in the United States Air Force as a security specialist, which is a police officer. After a 4-year enlistment, I was hired as a deputy at the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department and worked my way up to jail administrator.

In 1986, the opportunity to return home to Perryville presented itself and I was hired by the city as a patrolman with the police department. I worked my way up to sergeant by 1993 and remained in that supervisory role until being promoted to Code Enforcement Officer in 2009.

Although I am a police officer, my office has been at City Hall for the last three years. I think the fact that I was not involved in any way with recent investigation at the police department puts me in a strong position to deal with its aftermath. I am the only candidate who has both a long history with, and a professional distance from, the department.

It’s important to me that our community is proud of our police department. There are many well-trained, dedicated communications and police officers at Perryville Police Department — including the other candidates, Lt. Direk Hunt and Sgt. Brad Pitts. I believe that with strong and steady leadership, the department can recover and even grow stronger and better than before.

I’m running for Perryville City Marshal to give voters a choice in deciding how their police department moves forward. Of course, I hope I’m your choice, but no matter which candidate you support, please be sure to vote on April 8.

(Disclaimer: This is a free website, maintained by candidate Joe Martin of 700 Shelby St., Perryville, MO 63775.)