Downey : Acting Police Chief Named

Capt. Pete Stone has been named acting police chief of the Downey Police Department, replacing Chief William Martin, who retired Wednesday. Stone, 52, who became a Downey police officer in 1958, will head the department until City Manager Don Davis selects a replacement for Martin.

Martin, 52, was a captain in the South Gate Police Department before he became Downey’s police chief in 1978. During Martin’s tenure, Downey become one of the nation’s first police departments to use an ultralight aircraft--little more than a motorized hang glider--for police work.

The former chief also established an innovative exercise program that rewards fit officers with as many as 10 extra days off a year. Martin said he plans to retire with his wife, Katy, to Lake Tahoe.