I just want to thank you for everything that you did. I was extremely frightened to even come in and give a statement, much less face the possibility of a trial. However, you were so patient, kind, and understanding that I did go through with the whole thing.
I have begun to put my life back together—returned to college to finish my degree and am working two jobs at present. I don't think any of that would have been possible without your professional and compassionate handling of my case.
The percentage of reported rapes that lead to arrests in Minneapolis is in steep decline
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You are truly a blessing.
* * * * *
Sex Crimes isn't the kind of assignment cops tend to make a career of. Bernard Martinson is an exception. He's been with the unit since spring 1989.
That was three years after the accident that almost ended his career. In 1986, when he was a young patrol officer, he was frisking a subject when a drunk driver crashed into a parked car, smashing his left leg below the knee. Twenty-six surgeries later, he still walked with a limp. There was no way he could do street patrols, so he transferred to Homicide, then Internal Affairs. In 1989, he landed in Sex Crimes.
On file at the police department are endless letters of thanks. A state senator appreciated his testimony in favor of a three-strikes law in Minnesota. An advocate working for a rape crisis center is grateful for his help training volunteers. The chief of police in Buffalo thanks him for offering his services in a rape case. There are notes from the police chief, from landlords of buildings-turned-crime scenes, from prosecutors, and from victims.
"I would give him cases with very few leads just to see what he could do with them," says Sauro, Martinson's supervisor from 2001 to 2003. "In 48 hours, he'd have the guy in jail with a confession."
In 1997, two Minneapolis lieutenants, recommending Martinson for a Medal of Commendation, wrote that the indefatigable investigator "consistently reads all assault, robbery, and sex crimes reports on a daily basis."
Remember the officer who walked over to the donated computer and started a database? That was Martinson.
Lt. Sauro stresses that Martinson could have taken a disability pension long ago, but he's stayed on to solve cases, sometimes cases he wasn't assigned. "He goes above and beyond the above and beyond," Sauro says.
After Martinson, the next most experienced officer has logged six and a half years with the unit. The two remaining investigators each came on this year. The lieutenant in charge started in August.
Martinson is so integral to the unit that multiple transfer requests have been refused by his superiors. His last attempt, in 1996, was denied on the basis that losing him would cripple the Sex Crimes Unit.
"This officer is the highest producer in the unit," wrote his superior. "Several new officers are being added and the loss of this officer at present will cause a drastic drop in productivity and effectiveness."
If, back in 1996, the loss of Martinson would have been "drastic," we can only imagine what it would mean for today's decimated Sex Crimes Unit.
