A former California deputy police chief collected $1.2 million in 2025 — without working a single day — after spending 18 months on paid leave and then settling a whistleblower lawsuit against the city that employed him.

Story Snapshot

• Travis Martinez, former deputy chief of the Redlands Police Department, topped California’s public payroll in 2025 with $1.2 million in total pay — while doing no work.
• The city of Redlands settled his whistleblower retaliation lawsuit for $871,956 after he claimed he was pushed out for trying to expose misconduct by a superior officer.
• The settlement was approved 3-2 in a closed-door city council vote, keeping the details hidden from the public.
• Redlands has now paid more than $4 million to settle lawsuits tied to alleged misconduct involving one former deputy chief, Michael Reiss.

How One Officer Earned $1.2 Million Without Working

State Controller’s Office payroll records show Travis Martinez received $81,804 in regular pay, $890,467 in other pay, and $231,099 in a lump-sum payment in 2025 — a total of roughly $1.2 million. That made him the highest-paid city employee in California that year. He had been on paid administrative leave for about 18 months before retiring in April 2025. During that entire stretch, he did not report to work.

Martinez filed a whistleblower retaliation claim, saying the city punished him after he tried to investigate misconduct by former Deputy Chief Michael Reiss. The Redlands City Council voted 3-2 to approve an $871,956 settlement to resolve that claim. The deal required Martinez to retire and drop his lawsuit. Because the vote happened in a closed session, the public never got to see the evidence or hear the reasoning behind the payout.

A Pattern of Costly Payouts Tied to One Officer

Martinez’s settlement is not the only one tied to Reiss. The city of Redlands has paid out more than $4 million total to settle lawsuits connected to him. Those cases include claims of sexual harassment, retaliation, and a hostile work environment. A separate employee, Julie Alvarado-Salcido, sued the city in 2022 and won a $1.2 million settlement for sexual misconduct and retaliation — a figure that has been confused with Martinez’s payout in some media reports.

The city also paid $475,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by forensic specialist Geneva Holzer, who alleged harassment and a cover-up. Each settlement was resolved without the city admitting wrongdoing. Critics on both the left and right are asking the same question: why did city leaders keep paying out millions rather than clean house?

Closed Doors, Public Dollars, and Real Concerns

The 3-2 council vote to approve Martinez’s settlement happened behind closed doors. That means taxpayers in Redlands — who funded every dollar of these payouts — were given no access to the facts that led the city to write that check. This is a common legal practice, but it fuels a justified frustration: public money is being spent to fix problems that the public is not allowed to fully understand.

Redlands PD Deputy Chief Travis Martinez got put on 18 months *paid* leave after he supposedly raised concerns about cover-ups & sexual misconduct among his fellow cops. It looks like city leaders & cops are basically giving him a big payout in exchange for him shutting up. https://t.co/EBD4TaO2jH

— Ash J (@AshAgony) July 9, 2026

This story hits a nerve that crosses political lines. Conservatives are right to be angry about a government employee collecting over a million dollars for not working. Liberals are right to be angry that a whistleblower may have been silenced and punished for trying to expose wrongdoing. Both sides can agree on this: when public officials settle lawsuits in secret, pile up million-dollar payouts, and face no public accountability, the system is broken. The people running it answer to themselves — not to the citizens paying the bills.

Sources:

zerohedge.com, communityforwardredlands.com, facebook.com, sbsun.com