NYPD Badge (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
May 27, 2022 By Christian Murray
A veteran NYPD officer who was stationed out of the 109th precinct in Flushing has been indicted by a Queens Country grand jury of tampering with evidence and other charges.
Police Officer Kevin Martin, 45, allegedly failed to wear his body-worn camera during a March 2019 arrest in which an illegal gun was recovered.
Martin allegedly tried to cover up the fact he was not wearing a camera—by re-enacting the search after attaching the required video recorder to his uniform.
“The alleged misconduct by an officer sworn to serve and protect undermines the mission of law enforcement,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. “Public safety and accountability are not mutually exclusive – they go hand in hand.”
According to the charges, Martin, a 16-year-veteran of the NYPD, and his partner were on patrol at around 4:20 p.m. when they arrested a driver for allegedly violating traffic laws.
The driver’s 2016 Jeep was seized and transported to the Flushing NYPD station house. Martin then conducted a search at around 4:50 p.m. that day but didn’t find any contraband.
Police did not provide the actual date the incident allegedly occurred.
That evening, as officers were retrieving property from the Jeep, Martin told his partner he found a gun in a shoe that was inside the vehicle. Later Martin allegedly went back inside the precinct—retrieved his body camera, turned it on and re-enacted the finding of the gun.
Martin, who is a resident of Rockland County, faces up to four years in prison if convicted.
His attorney told The Post that, “Once Mr. Martin has his day in court, we will see he is an excellent officer and not what the public perceives as a bad officer.”
