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This section was created
for the sports men and women of Illinois. We have asked some of
our local officers to contribute to our public education and community
outreach programs by telling us something about themselves.
Name: Mike
Martin 
- 1989 Officer of the Year
Coles County
District:
Region III District 11
Counties Worked: Iroquois
County 1980-1982, Christian County 1982-1990, Coles County 1990-Present
Years of
Experience:
21.5
Specialized
training:
Awards: Merit Award
Outstanding Felony Criminal Case
1993 Nominated Region III candidate of the year.
CPO Mike Martin was awarded the merit award
for outstanding felony criminal case. CPO Martin was involved in
investigating a subject who was involved with persons classified as a
 minor
on state park property. After a lengthy investigation and several
hours of interviews the subject fled to avoid prosecution. CPO
Martin advised surrounding agencies of the fleeing felon and was
captured within hours. CPO Martin's perseverance and
dedication helped provide this young victim with justice.
Why
did you become a CPO? I
always wanted to become a police officer and I wanted to protect our
natural resources. I knew being a game warden was going to be my
profession. I thought I would have to go out west to pursue my
career. One day while working as a gas station attendant job an
Illinois CPO named Al Dalkamp pulled into the station. Many
questions later I had much of the information needed to pursue my goal.
I now realize then and now that most game wardens share a common trait.
The trait is called patience. Back then CPO Al Dalkamp just
pulled into the gas station at the end of his shift to fill his tank to
be ready for the next day. He wa s happy to help out a curious 17
year old by spending 20 minutes to educate him on the pleasures of being
an Illinois Conservation Police Officer. 21 years later I still
thank officer Dalkamp. I try to share his gracious knowledge with
others. I enjoy answering questions put to me at gas stations.
Most
Interesting Arrest? I
think my most interesting arrests came in a game wardens dream day.
Although I have had several interesting cases I enjoy telling about
this one day of arrests. I started around 7:00 a.m. to catch a
trapper who had illegally set some traps.
While giving him
his citations and seizing his illegal equipment I heard gun shots
 out
to the west. I finished up with the trapper and headed that way.
I found a couple of hunters who
had killed some
squirrels during closed season. No sooner I finished
up with them I was back on the road and found someone illegally taking
hen pheasants.
Thinking now that I
have had a good enforcement day I was surprised to find the day was far
from over. I again continued on and got a call from my Sergeant
Mark Ottis (now Captain) who was calling me to help him out with a deer
case. The investigation resulted in citing a man for killing a
deer with a rifle and citing his wife for improperly tagging it with her
archery permit. I was transporting the deer to the evidence locker
and while en route I see a shiner in the state park. I stop the
vehicle and find 4 people in it drinking alcohol. The drivers
claims he was just looking at the deer. Appropriate citations were
issued to the four law breakers. I enter the deer into the
evidence cooler and logged it into the books and begin my route home.
The time is now 8:00 p.m. and I run into one more shining case, I think
this should not take long, well 16 hours later I would finally make it
home. The last stop of the day was a boat on the river with some
local guys poaching raccoons. I located their drop vehicle and
when I tried to stop them from the bank they turned off their lights and
fled down the river.
I knew who they were
and decided to wait for them to return to their vehicle. I waited
until 8 :00
the next morning when they came driving up to the vehicle with nothing
with them. They had stashed their guns, boat, raccoons, and gear.
Just at this time Sergeant Ottis was pulling in to assist me with a
boat. Waiting so long we had feared they may have run a ground
some where down the river while running with their lights out.
A quick field
interview and the offenders decided to come clean. One of the
offenders got into the patrol boat and showed us where the boat, motor
and other gear was hidden some 5 miles down the river. I recovered
all of the evidence and heading back to the boat ramp we found a few
illegally set gill nets. My day finally ended shortly after that.
Unsolved
Cases? Some of the more difficult cases to solve
include dumping along the highway. People with a truck load of
garbage will drop it off in a corn field in th e
middle of the night. I worked a case with CPO Danny Bowers one
time when we had a truck load of vinyl tile dumped in the ditch.
Looking through the tile CPO Bowers found an interesting message on one of the
tiles which gave us a clue who to talk to. We investigated the case
further and discovered the message was written by the installers of the
material. They had not clue why the debris was dumped on the
highway but rather testified it was thrown away in the dumpster.
The person hauling the materials from the dumpster did not want to pay
the landfill fee and dumped it on the side of the road. A bit of
calling around and interviewing pays off when good detective work is
done.
. Another
great part of the job is working with a team. There are some cases
that are so big one, two or three officers are needed to
 complete
it. Opening day of dove season is where we have to gather our
resources and work smarter and not harder. With so many people
wanting to enjoy the opening seasons I often call on other officers to
help in my enforcement. Some days the cases we work on turn out
really big. Other days we get hot tips and find that the people
are just out having a good time within the limits of the law.
Using the proper tools helps keep things ahead of the violators.
Camouflage clothing and face paint are important to keep your position
unknown until a violation occur. In this case we had several
violators make several trips back to their cars with limits of doves.
Patience and good notes kept all of the violations recorded.
Officers that
inspire you? CPO Glenn Sanders, region IV district 9, for
his innovation and initiative. Lt. Bill Henry, Springfield,
for his people skills and communication abilities. Gene Stump for his
community policing
Area of expertise?
Timber enforcement, decoy program,
 Ginseng
enforcement,
 and
drug interdiction. Timber and Ginseng are big dollars in this part
of the state. Thousands of
dollars can be lost if the timber laws were not strictly enforced.
People count on CPOs to protect their investments and keep the natural
habitat protected.
Ginseng is another expensive item that
is protected by Illinois CPOs. Ginseng can sell for hundreds of
dollars a pound. Licensing guidelines and seasons must be
enforced.
Decoys have been used in Illinois
for years. Before technology was able to make these decoys
animate Officers would take frozen carcasses and place them in
the field
in positions resembling live animals. At times simple paper cut
outs of the animals are used to simiulate real animals. Most of
the decoys are well made by skilled taxidermists. The electronics
placed in them can control their head and tail movements. Special
attention is placed on the detail. Many of the decoys last years
before needing replacement but as you can see in the pictures below some
patch work is needed from time to time.
Hunting or
Fishing?
I'd say fishing
Outside
Interests?
Hunting and fishing, participation of
community organizations Eagles and
Knights of Columbus, colleting Smokey the bear memorabilia
and yardwork.
Retirement goals?
I'd like to work until I have
30 years (age 52) on the force and then retire and spend time more time with the
family.
Is it hard to
keep professional when an offender is upset?
No, If you treat
everyone the way you want to be treated it gives them a sense of
appreciation for the job. Treat them fairly and things go a lot
better.
What
is the easiest and hardest part of the job? The easiest part of the job is getting up
and knowing there is a variety of enforcement activity. Knowing
you can do something different every day and having the diversity to
follow your interest. Loving the job with little repetition.
The hardest the is the recovery of drowning victims.
  
A Boat DRAG is used to catch clothing of a
drowning victim
 
Treble hooks easily catch on loose clothing.
Has the community been supportive?
The community has been very
supportive. The more you put into your community the more you get
out of it. Local police are always there to help. Local
sportsmen's groups and even regular citizens are willing to lend a hand
for a good cause. The more time you invest in your community and the more you
communicate with the public the increased chance you have in getting
their help.
Working with local wildlife biologist Paul Brewer on a nuisance opossum
trapping.
Morgan's Meat Market
is an example of community support. They donate time and effort to
process both donated and confiscated deer for the local food bank.
A lot of that help can be started by building relationships. Local
business groups are willing to donate time and effort to help
Conservation Police. Our Illinois Sportsmen against hunger program
is in part a success due to the community participation. With good
relations between the local CPO and the residents more gets done.
 
During my many
years as a CPO I have found a good source of information can be found in
our local US postal carriers, both the rural carriers and the city/town
carriers. I have made friends with several. these people know most
everyone on their routes (making it easy to locate violators homes) they
also see things and report them to me like deer hanging in a shed out of
season or spotting cannabis growing . I try to keep in contact with
them to maintain a good working relationship them.
Ever get your
truck stuck? Stuck or BURIED? Stuck where I had
to get myself out or buried where a tow or CPO had to pull me out?
There are two kinds of Game Wardens those who have been stuck and those
who are going to get stuck.
How do you want
the IL Conservation Police Dept to improve in the next few years? I would like them to improve our head
count. More officers would better serve the public. We have
had an increased responsibility with the same manpower. We need to
improve field officer head count
What type of
person makes a good CPO? An
independent, self-motivated person who has a sincere interest in the
enforcement of Conservation and Recreational Laws.
Have
you ever had to write a ticket to a family member, friend, or
politician? Yes...politician. A retired senator
for a snowmobile violation. I gave the person the benefit of doubt
and only wrote one citation and a few warnings. I treat everyone
the same. No matter what their race, beliefs, political
affiliations, or family status. If you break the law there are
consequences.
What is your most
frequently asked question?
The most common question is
how to transport your
gun legally.
CPOs primarily
enforce resource and recreational laws (fish and game, timber, ginseng,
endangered and threatened species, boating and snowmobile laws,
including operating under the influence/driving under the influence (O.U.I.),
as well as investigating boat, snowmobile, and hunting accidents.
However we continuously encounter other violations during our unique
patrols, and the training we receive to enforce a variety of criminal
laws simply helps us better serve the public.
Agents' entry on lands and waters. The officers,
employees, and agents of the Department, for the purposes of
investigation and to exercise the rights, powers, and duties vested and
that may be vested in it, may enter and cross
all lands and waters in this State, doing
no damage to private property. (Source: P.A. 91-239, eff. 1-1-00.) (20
ILCS 805/805-535) Sec. 805-535. Conservation Police Officers. In
addition to the arrest powers prescribed by law, Conservation Police
Officers are conservators of the peace and as such have all powers
possessed by policemen, except that they may exercise those powers
anywhere in this State.
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Officer Martin takes pride in his region and the variety of
enforcement programs they have to offer. His region supports
several changing seasons which hold to enforcement activities which
include: Boating, fishing, hunting, trapping, state lands, timber,
taxidermy and commercial fisheries. The hunting and fishing
seasons have several different species and seasons. Hunting
includes turkey, deer, pheasant, dove, rabbit, furbearers and waterfowl.
average day in Coles County officer Martin suggests to check the
weather. Depending on the day a variety of enforcement activities
can be available.
Certainly the fall season brings most of the hunting activity with the
summers having a large influx of people on the waters
and in the parks. Some days the activity runs together. Maybe a
turkey case in the morning with
a shining or airplane detail in
the
evening. Ice fishing enforcement can be done in the afternoon. "That
is what is great about region 3 district 11.
There is so much to do here enforcement wise and working with the other
officers really gives
a
great variety"
