This letter was e-mailed to us as a letter that the Selma Times Journal would not publish. Read on:
8-28-06
My name is Mike Palmer. I was employed by the City of Selma for fourteen (14) years. Most of these years were spent as a Selma Police Department Narcotics Detective. One of the hardest things I ever did was to resign from the Department and leave Selma, a city that I dearly love. However, I could not sit by and watch someone I believe to be inept, Mayor Perkins, destroy and bankrupt the city.
During my time with the Selma Narcotics Unit, I had the burden of being partnered with Jimmy Martin. I refuse to address him as Chief Martin. I tolerated him for five (5) years. I watched as Martin consistently undermined Lt. Brock's command of the Narcotics Unit and the department as a whole. Martin's actions steemed from the fact that he thought he had been slighted by not being placed in charge of the Narcotics Unit.
I watched Martin, in my opinion, do illegal things, which I believe I can prove, if need be. Other members of the Drug Unit and I would not allow Martin to fill out any reports or anything else that require correct spelling or grammar. We all thought his grammar and spelling were atrocious.
Lt. Brock and I pushed to get Tommy Buford placed in the Drug Unit. I did this because Jimmy Martin seemed so full of himself that he often sat in his office calling women and often took two hour lunch breaks.
Once Tommy Buford joined the Unit, he and I clicked well as partners. We made many cases which put a dent in the drug traffic in Selma. Despite what he may claim, Jimmy Martin had never been able to make a dent in the drug traffic in the city. One thing that I believe Martin did is to arrest people who needed help more than prison if it made him look good.
Martin was jealous of the fact that I created a good working relationship with the Dallas County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Unit, especially with Wayne Odom, Cliff Roberts, and "Packie" Dempsey.
I know that Jimmy Martin does not live in Dallas County. His primary residence is a few miles north of Bibb County High on Highway 219 North, in an added on trailer. My opinion is that he should not be Police Chief of a city in which he does not live.
In 1997, when Randy Lewellen got into trouble, Martin had a big hand in turning on someone who had helped him. Randy was the reason that Martin never went to patrol after being an undercover man. Martin had been given a job by Roy Johnson, another victim of Martin's bravado. When Martin was through with that assignment, Randy gave Martin a job with the Narcotics Unit. My opinion is that Martin was scared of being on patrol. He whined and carried on, so Randy let him be a detective.
When Randy got into trouble, Martin ran and told the FBI and other agencies about Randy. I was present when Randy Lewellen gave Jimmy Martin a check for $5,500.00. I took Martin to buy a Corvette with the money from Bo Morgan. Where could Randy have possibly gotten this money?
Martin told the FBI that Randy was crooked, but that did not stop Martin from taking a large sum of money from Randy. I doubt that Martin ever told the FBI that. Martin then arranged a "discounted" paint job for his Corvette with George's Paint and Body. Randy secured the loan and the paint job. Is it not apparent that the citizens of Selma paid for the paint job? Do you think Martin ever mentioned that to the FBI?
I welcome any rebuttal from Jimmy Martin to anything I have written, because I witnessed the above first hand.
Martin would always take my cases, run to Randy Lewellen and tell Randy that Martin had made the cases and try to get Randy to transfer me by telling Randy that I did not know what I was doing. It did not work. I got Martin transferred.
Martin managed to get an over qualified Chief (Robert Green) demoted. Martin demoted Lt. Brock out of spite and had Captain Joe Harrell demoted, but these individuals are probably laughing all the way to the bank.
"Axe" Jimmy Martin to spell "sergeant", the only rank he was "given" before the rank he was given by the aforementioned inept Mayor Perkins. "Axe" Martin to spell "flashlight". He always spelled it "frashright" on reports. Martin has no business being in charge of anything.
He also got Randy Lewellen to get him out of duty in Desert Storm, in the early 90's, because he did not want to go, for whatever reasons. You can draw your own conclusions on that.
I feel I need to write this letter, partly based on current events, but mostly due to reading about Martin's antics on www.angelfire.com/un/selma (a right-on website, I might add). I needed to vent my frustrations and I thank Angelfire for the opportunity.
I am still in law enforcement in the Prattville area, but no thanks to Martin and Perkins. I tried to return to the Selma Police Department, but I was met with strong resistance, lied to, and lied on. I could sue the City of Selma if I wanted to for discrimination, because I had a right to be hired back. Please print all you can of this letter.
Mike Palmer
Prattville, Alabama
