By John Pacenti
Delray Beach Fire Chief Ronald Martin was investigated in August after an anonymous complaint revealed he had installed a Ring surveillance camera in his office, citing security concerns and harassment he faced following a controversial Brightline train crash that involved a city firetruck.
“I cannot continue to professionally sustain these attacks. I cannot continue to try to solve the problems and bring the organization into some semblance of compliance,” Martin told an investigator.
The investigation, conducted through recorded interviews with Martin and other fire department officials, revealed that Martin installed the camera in his office after discovering what he described as security breaches and inappropriate items — such as pornography — left in his office.
As for the investigation, Martin received counsel after he was found to have broken city policies by installing the camera.
“City’s policies prohibit the use of any video/audio-capable device within city buildings without prior authorization from the department director or city manager and consent of individuals potentially recorded,” wrote Paul Weber, a former police detective who now works for the city’s Human Resources Department.
Weber found no evidence that images were recorded or stored, but said, “The presence of a camera with video capabilities in a workplace office setting creates the risk of perceived surveillance,” he said.
Martin received “verbal counseling” regarding the incident. Mayor Tom Carney and commissioners have expressed more than once from the dais that they support Martin and the changes he is making in the department.
House on fire
Underlying the current episode of the Delray Beach Fire Rescue soap opera is pushback to reforms that Chief Martin, hired in October, has tried to instill in a department reeling from scandal after scandal.
Martin appeared to be at the end of his rope during the conversation with the investigator.
“I’m dealing with chronic AWOL in the fire department. I mean, there, there are so many issues. I’ve got an entire program that we’re lucky to this point we haven’t had a tragedy with ocean rescue,” he said.
An ocean-rescue employee, John Livingstone, wrote a very public resignation letter in June, blasting Martin, who had instituted sweeping changes in the division.
Martin said he discovered that one lifeguard engaged in verbal threats toward the public and used sexual intimidation toward fellow employees.
He also found inappropriate relationships between ocean-rescue leadership and a nonprofit entity used for travel and training and competition, according to a June 13 letter to City Manager Terrence Moore.
And, of course, there was the fallout when a fire-rescue engineer on Dec. 28 drove an aerial ladder truck around the down railroad gates on Southeast First Avenue and was shish-kabobbed by the Brightline passenger train.
Besides eventually firing the firefighter at the wheel, David Wyatt, the department put on administrative leave Assistant Chief Kevin Green and Division Chief Todd Lynch while the department investigated how 20 employees allowed their driver’s licenses to lapse into suspension.
The firefighter union denounced Martin, saying the chief undermined “the fundamental principles of due process” by releasing the names of those put on leave.
Both Green and Lynch were exonerated by an internal investigation, while The Coastal Star broke the story about how Wyatt had previously driven his car into a tree on Atlantic Avenue and was investigated for DUI. He then let his license get suspended and continued driving a firetruck.
Martin also walked into the hot mess left by his predecessor, Keith Tomey, who had accused the city manager of sexual harassment. An investigator exonerated Moore. Tomey was fired and is now suing the city.
But Martin brought his own baggage. After his hiring, The Coastal Star reported that Martin had three internal complaints filed against him while he was chief of the Fort Myers Beach Fire Control District. The complaints centered on a secret affair between Martin and the fire district’s human resources manager. Martin denied any wrongdoing and said he ended up engaged to the woman.
Camera investigation
Martin told investigators looking into the Ring camera on Aug. 4 that he was a subject of harassment regarding items left in his office.
Martin explained that his concerns began on his first day of employment on Oct. 8, when he found items in his office credenza that violated city policy, including cigarettes and tobacco products.
More troubling discoveries followed in January 2025 after the Brightline crash.
He discovered a pornographic magazine and a half-empty bottle of Maker’s Mark, Kentucky bourbon, in a bottom drawer of his desk, Martin told investigators, speculating whether the items were left by his predecessor or someone trying to set him up.
The fire chief said he frequently found his office disturbed and requested a code change to limit access to only himself, his administrative assistant, and the facilities manager. However, his security concerns persisted.
Martin said he decided to install the camera after he found his office door open after a holiday weekend, which made him fearful that someone still had access to his office.
Deputy Fire Chief Travis Franco first discovered the camera while sitting at Martin’s desk, noticing it at the northeast corner of the desk, pointing at the chair in which he was sitting.
Franco expressed surprise at the items Martin claimed to have found in his office drawers, saying that Tomey didn’t smoke and “I don’t think he was kind of a pornographic magazine kind of guy.”
Martin emphasized that the camera was placed visibly on his desk and later moved to an end table, never hidden from view.
“The camera sends notifications to my phone when someone enters my office, but it does not record or store video,” he explained to investigators.
The fire chief’s decision to install the camera was also influenced by harassment he experienced at his personal residence following the Brightline incident.
Martin described receiving “profane-laced correspondence put on my vehicle, at my home, calling me all kinds of names, telling me I need to go back where I am from … calling me a carpetbagger.”
Martin said he reported these incidents to Moore and then to Police Chief Russ Mager, but a formal police report was not made.
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