Bensalem Police, Mayor DiGirolamo, and the Bensalem Council would like to congratulate Officer Christian Martinka for receiving the 2024 Bensalem Township Police Officer of the Year at last night's council meeting.

Throughout 2024, Officer Christian Martinka conducted 416 traffic stops, made 74 criminal arrests, and documented 831 incident reports.  He has maintained an exceptional level of performance in all his duties.  Officer Martinka always leads by example and has become an informal leader among his peers.  This is why he was selected as a field training officer.  In addition to his patrol duties, Officer Martinka also contributes to the Police Athletic League (PAL) throughout the year, serving as a coach to the youth in our community, and has recently won the Junior Boys' basketball championship as a coach.  Remarkably, Officer Martinka received seven official commendations last year.  These included “officer of the quarter,” a unit citation, and five separate awards for the recovery of illegally possessed guns on traffic stops. There is no way to measure how many violent gun crimes were prevented by his actions.

Officer Martinka spent nearly four years with the Philadelphia Police Department, assigned to the 15th District, and has been with the Bensalem Township Police Department for two years.  Officer Martinka comes from a family of police officers, including his father, Thomas Sr., who retired from the Philadelphia Police Department after 35 years of service, and his older brother, Thomas Jr., who has been with the Bensalem Township Police Department since September 2019.

Mayor DiGirolamo, Director McVey, Township Council, and all members of the Bensalem Township Police Department would like to congratulate Officer Christian Martinka for achieving this prestigious honor and wish him a long, safe, and fulfilling career here in Bensalem.