Domestic Violence Expert
Detective Who Took Own Life is Mourned

By REUVEN BLAU

Friends, family members, and colleagues gathered last week to pay their last respects to Detective Carmen "Lydia" Martinez, a nationally recognized hostage negotiator and the NYPD's first domestic violence specialist.

CARMEN MARTINEZ

Ms. Martinez, 49, shot herself in the Upper East Side apartment building of her longtime boyfriend, retired Deputy Inspector Bill Bayer.

'Always Available'

Her death stunned those who knew her. They recalled her as a compassionate professional constantly seeking to expand her knowledge in the domestic violence field in order to better help those in need.

"Lydia was always available to us, an amazing speaker at our advocate training," remembered Iona Siegel, executive director of the Mount Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Program. She regularly attended the group's fundraisers, she added.

Detective Martinez began her career with the NYPD in July 1984, seven years after getting married at the age of 19 and traveling across the United States with her husband, a bus driver. As the marriage crumbled, she was looking for a job to support herself when she noticed an NYPD recruitment ad in the subway.

But she was terrified of swimming, which is a requirement at the Police Academy. "She had a piece of luck, as she put it," recalled her friend, Jerry Bryant. "She fell and broke her arm while in the Police Academy and mustered alongside the pool without having to take the swimming test."

'Ferocious Desire to Know'

Her first assignment was in Midtown South, and soon afterwards she joined the Crime Prevention Section. In 1990, she was promoted to Detective. Throughout her career, she sought continued training, sometimes at her own expense, Mr. Bryant said. Some of that instruction included sitting in on counseling sessions with abusive men.

"She had a ferocious desire for knowledge," he remarked. "She really wanted to go into the world, learn as much as she could, and use it to people's benefit."

In 1988, she was assigned to the Chief of Patrol's Office, where she effectively became the NYPD's first domestic violence expert. In that role, she worked with Capt. Kevin Walsh to develop the department's domestic violence training curriculum.

"Lydia felt strongly that domestic violence was not uncontrollable," Officer Walsh remembered. "There was always a conscious choice to be made by the batterer and the victim."

Stressed Self-Reliance

Detective Martinez continually stressed the theme of self-reliance, urging people to take responsibility for their actions, her friends recalled. During her free time, she counseled individuals who were abusers.

Ms. Martinez was born and raised in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Her father, Israel Martinez, was a short-order cook and her mother, Marian Carrasquillo, was a homemaker.

She was graduated from City College of New York with a bachelor's degree in psychology, and later received her Master's degree in counseling from Long Island University.

In 1993, she became a hostage negotiator and later taught the NYPD Hostage Negotiations Course. She was selected among an elite group of such officers to be dispatched to Guantanamo Bay Detainment Camp in Cuba to train military officers. In September, she instructed officers on Rikers Island as well.

Outside of work, Ms. Martinez loved watching and discussing movies. She also enjoyed travel and eating out at fine restaurants. Susan Morley, a retired Deputy Inspector who worked with Ms. Martinez, remembered her helping victims struggling to remove themselves from domestic violence situations. "Lydia inspired me every day," she said.