He's served the Abilene community for 40 years; something that no other previous Abilene Police Chief can say.
"One of the things, the real pluses; real blessings was through the 40 years, is being able to work with such wonderful people," Abilene Police Chief Melvin Martin says.
Chief Martin's life has revolved around the local law enforcement, including his love life.
"Our first official date was at the Citizens Police Academy graduation.
Not very many people knew that we were dating and when we were holding hands, they just did a double take," MaryAnn Martin says about her introduction to Chief Martin.
They met when Chief Martin randomly asked her to be part of the Citizens Police Academy.
"It was kind of a crash course into dating Chief Martin," MaryAnn adds.
This will be Chief Martin's last Citizens Police Academy and although his wife, Maryanne has taken the class before.
They've made an exception for her to be right by his side for the last time around.
"It's very special because that's where we started and we thought how great would this be to finish up where we met," Chief Martin says.
"I thought what a great way to end his career for myself because we met really through the Citizens Academy and this is his last Citizens Academy, and I wanted to be a part of it," MaryAnn says.
While his life has essentially revolved around overseeing the Abilene Police Department, he and his wife are looking forward to spending quality time together outside of the police force.
"When he retires, we're going to have a lot of fun traveling to different golf resorts and one of our dreams is to go to Hawaii," MaryAnn says.
Maryanne describes her marriage with police Chief Martin as one of her greatest learning experiences of her life.
"I learned so much being married to him. My respect for the officers is incredible. They are great men and I consider it a privilege to be married to my husband and it's been fun too," MaryAnn says.
