DATE: Monday, October 20, 1997              TAG: 9710210494

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Jane Harper 

                                            LENGTH:   87 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...

. . . Portsmouth Police Chief Leslie Martinez

Leslie Martinez became the first female police chief in Portsmouth when she took office in January 1993. But her time there was short. Martinez resigned in April 1994, citing differences with then-city manager V. Wayne Orton.

Martinez returned home to a small community in the mountains outside Albuquerque, N.M., several months after resigning from the Portsmouth Police Department.

She continues to live there today, spending much of her time visiting with her two daughters and three grandsons, who live nearby.

Martinez said she continues to stay involved in law enforcement on a limited basis. She does some contract work occasionally and also does some work for the National League of Cities, judging and evaluating applicants for annual community policing project awards.

Martinez, 50, said she is considering returning to full-time police work. She may even seek another police chief job.

``I wanted to take a couple of years off to rest and spend some time with my grandkids and see what I wanted to do,'' she said. ``(But) I'm still fairly young, and the urge to go back to full-time work is there.''

Martinez began her law enforcement career when she was a student at Northern Arizona University. She took a job in the campus police department to help pay for her schooling and discovered she enjoyed police work.

She served as a sheriff's deputy before joining the Albuquerque Police Department in 1972. She stayed there for 20 years, eventually rising to the rank of captain. She left in 1992 to take the job in Portsmouth.

``I loved it there, and I really miss it,'' she said of Portsmouth. ``I never felt so comfortable in an area. I really didn't want to leave.''

But she quit after Orton told her he was suspending her for two weeks for smoking in her office and another week for insubordination. He also gave her an unsatisfactory performance review.

``There should be a good rapport between the city manager and the police chief, and we just didn't have that.''

Among the things Martinez said she misses most about Portsmouth is the police officers. ``They were just the greatest bunch. They were very likeable, very hard-working, and did a lot for a little.''

Nesita Kwan reported for WVEC Channel 13 from 1990 to 1992 before heading to Houston and the much larger television market it offered.

Nesita Kwan now is reporting and anchoring before an even bigger television audience than the one in Houston - she's working in Chicago, which has the third-largest television market in the country.

Kwan, who was born in Canada but raised in the Washington, D.C., area, left her job as a reporter and weekend anchor with the CBS-affiliate station in Houston in 1994 to take her current job in Chicago.

She's working as a reporter three days a week and as an anchor on the weekends for WMAQ, the NBC-affiliate news station in Chicago. And Kwan says she couldn't be happier.

``Other than the weather, I really love Chicago,'' she said. ``I'm really enjoying myself, and I'm pleased with where I'm at.''

Kwan is 32 now and still single. She lives downtown in a high-rise apartment building, nestled among many of the city's finest restaurants and most popular attractions. ``It's something I've always wanted to do, and the romance and lure of it hasn't worn off yet.''

Kwan said she isn't sure how long she'll stay in Chicago. As with most television reporters, she pointed out that ``these decisions aren't always your own.''

She's also not sure how long she'll stay in TV news or whether she will pursue any other career options. ``I don't like to set long-term goals,'' she said. ``My only goal is to go out every day and tell a great story. As long as I'm still enjoying it, I'll keep doing it.''

She did say, however, that she sometimes toys with the idea of seeking an overseas news job. She speaks Chinese fluently and believes that skill could help her win such a position.

As much as she's enjoying Chicago, Kwan said, she misses the cozy feeling she had in Virginia.

``It was a less intense environment there, and you got to know people better in a shorter amount of time,'' she said. ``There really is a substantial difference between the North and the South. The South has a well-deserved reputation for its hospitality.'' ILLUSTRATION: STAFF/FILE PHOTO

After Leslie Martinez left the Portsmouth Police Department, she

returned home to New Mexico, where she spends time with her family.

Photo

Nesita Kwan...

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