{"id":1965,"date":"2018-03-26T21:29:46","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T21:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=1965"},"modified":"2025-02-06T14:13:45","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T19:13:45","slug":"service-to-the-city-marty-hageman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2018\/03\/26\/service-to-the-city-marty-hageman\/","title":{"rendered":"Service to the City: Marty Hageman"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1965_59299c-e7 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading1965_1a4fbe-75\">This alumnus credits WilmU for much of his success as both a police officer and leader of Downtown Visions.&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image1965_858914-e0 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image1965_858914-e0\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"432\" height=\"346\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/MartyHagemanOnline.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-1843\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/MartyHagemanOnline.jpg 432w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/MartyHagemanOnline-250x200.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Marty Hageman remembers when Downtown Visions, the management company for Wilmington\u2019s Downtown Business Improvement District, turned on its first surveillance camera 17 years ago. \u201cWithin 30 seconds of being activated, it caught a crime being committed,\u201d<br>he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which could not have been a surprise to him, because if anyone knows the mean streets of Delaware\u2019s largest city and its attendant crime problems, it\u2019s Martin P. Hageman, who also happens to be executive director of Downtown Visions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The baby in a family of two girls and two boys, Hageman grew up on the city\u2019s West Side and went to St. Elizabeth Elementary School and then Salesianum School. And on his 21st birthday, he was sworn in as a Wilmington policeman, a title he held with distinction for the next 23 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s kind of funny,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause back then I never pictured myself as a police officer. I kind of pictured myself in the military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His parents couldn\u2019t afford to send him to college, and when he graduated from Salesianum in 1970, he planned to work through the summer, then enlist in the Army. The Vietnam War was at its height and his father had served in the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then a friend told him about the police academy. \u201cHe said the department would pay for two college courses per semester,\u201d remembers Hageman, \u201cand there were a lot of policemen who were our neighbors who I had a lot of respect for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The friend talked him into taking the test for the academy, which he found less than challenging thanks, he says, to his Salesianum education. He took the test on a Saturday. On the following Monday, he became a police cadet. With his Catholic school background, he quickly adapted to the discipline and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hageman began his career like most cops: pounding a beat. There his previous summer job at a Market Street men\u2019s store served him well, especially in dealing with the quotidian challenges of enforcing the law. \u201cWhen I was a walking officer assigned to downtown, I couldn\u2019t leave my district,\u201d he says. \u201cWhich meant that any bathroom breaks had to happen in the district \u2014 even on a midnight shift. So unless you knew a storeowner who would give you a key, you would be very disappointed. Fortunately, I forged a relationship with a lot of retailers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hageman rose steadily through the ranks. He became a field training officer, worked a year undercover, was chosen for the SWAT team, became a detective, and finally served as commanding officer of the Drug, Organized Crime, &amp; Vice Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His earned 26 official commendations and given Detective of the Year and Patrolman of the Year honors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And he\u2019s not one of those ex-cops who can say \u201cI never fired my gun.\u201d In fact, as a patrol lieutenant, the platoon he commanded was involved in gunfights with bank robbers two days apart in March of 1991. Two officers were wounded in the battles, one of them critically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Training for his career and being the father of two daughters and a son had left him with neither the time nor the finances to further his education beyond the years\u2019 worth of credits he had managed to accumulate from Brandywine College, thanks to the Law Enforcement Education Program. But by the late \u201880s, he decided he could afford to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice, and he chose what was then Wilmington College, in large part because of the demands on his time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWilmU understood that education was important,\u201d he says, \u201cbut they also knew I was in the midst of my career, and there were times when I would have to tell my professors that I couldn\u2019t be in class.\u201d By then Hageman was a detective, a job that entailed shift work and court appearances. Always a good student, he worked around his demanding academic and professional schedules and received his degree in 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He says courses not directly related to his major, like Creative Writing and American Cinema, proved particularly valuable. \u201cThey helped me think outside the box,\u201d he says. \u201cThat helped in my police work, and it also improved my writing and in giving presentations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through his Wilmington College education, he says, \u201cI became a more rounded individual, and it helped me develop leadership skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those abilities became critical in 1994 when he left the police force to become executive director of Downtown Visions, a nonprofit created by the State of Delaware and City of Wilmington to manage a 70-block area of Wilmington consisting of 700 commercial buildings and approximately 355 independent businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide wu-blockquote-row is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote wu-blockquote-simple is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u00a0\u201cWilmU understood that education was important, but they also knew I was in the midst of my career, and there were times when I would have to tell my professors that I couldn\u2019t be in class.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>\u2014 Marty Hageman<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>He didn\u2019t realize it at the time, but he had been training for many years to lead Downtown Visions. He had commanded the Police Department\u2019s Community Affairs Division, which required him to go into the community, and he served as public information officer. \u201cI handled media relations, wrote speeches for people, that kind of thing,\u201d he says. \u201cThe releases were often political in nature,\u201d and there were politics to deal with in his new job. What\u2019s more, during his time on the SWAT team, he worked DuPont shareholder meetings at the Hotel du Pont, and got to know some of the company\u2019s top executives. DuPont, it turned out, was a major mover behind Downtown Visions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All this work history came to bear on what would be his second career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His job interview was conducted by two officials with Wilmington 2000, the precursor of the Wilmington Renaissance Corporation. \u201cI was told I\u2019d be interviewing for the operational director\u2019s position,\u201d says Hageman. \u201cThey needed someone to train people, and I was a certified police trainer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although he was eligible, having been a cop for more than 20 years, he had no plans to retire. So when the interviewers asked for his thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of downtown, he was candid. \u201cI told them we were weak in retail, but we were strong in restaurants and the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He remembers the interview lasting about four hours. \u201cAt the end,\u201d he says, \u201cthey said they weren\u2019t really interested in hiring me as operational director. I said, \u2018I understand,\u2019 and got up to go and said \u2014 in all honesty \u2014 \u2018I really enjoyed this.\u2019 And they said, \u2018no, no, sit down, we want to offer you the job of executive director.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was a Thursday. He went home, talked with his wife, and on the following Monday morning accepted the offer. Twenty-four years later, he\u2019s still on the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI liked it from the start,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause I\u2019m a multi-tasker, and I could take all the skills that I learned at WilmU and my other experiences and apply them here. It\u2019s been great, and I\u2019ve never looked back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He reports to a 35-member board of directors which, he says, \u201crepresents every strata of the downtown community: the arts, education, small retailers, and others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the nonprofit\u2019s funding comes from an assessment on parcels of land located within its operational area. That brings in about $2.1 million annually, which is supplemented by sponsorships and grants as well as a commercial trash removal business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Headquartered in a former Packard automobile dealership on the 400 block of North Orange Street, Downtown Visions has 50 employees, including a six-person administrative staff. Their greatest accomplishment, Hageman believes, has been to create and maintain \u201can atmosphere that has allowed economic development to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWithout our Safety Ambassadors and our Cleaning Ambassadors, downtown would truly be a much more . . .\u201d Here he pauses, then finishes with \u201cunwelcoming place.\u201d The Ambassadors remove graffiti, provide a friendly presence on the streets, and escort people to their cars after dark, among other functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hageman also points to such events as the Downtown Farmers Market, which draws up to 5,000 people on Wednesdays. \u201cWe had a history of farmers markets downtown and we\u2019re kind of bringing back that history,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But arguably the biggest success is the video surveillance program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was one of the first things we did,\u201d says Hageman. \u201cWe wanted to assist the police, and we knew that most of the corporations downtown had video cameras for their own areas, but none of them spoke to each other. We placed them on a common communication system, then we used our nonprofit status to raise $800,000 to put 25 cameras strategically located downtown, and we facilitated the entire program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through a for-profit subsidiary, Clean and Safe Services, Downtown Visions now operates and monitors 99 cameras in high crime areas throughout the city. (Hageman notes that there is no real profit involved with Clean and Safe \u201cbecause we rent our services to ourselves.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He admits that plenty of work needs to be done to make the downtown area a true success and attract what he calls \u201ca critical mass of people and a 24-hour presence.\u201d But he sees positive signs, starting with the Main Street Program, a movement of The National Trust for Historic Preservation. Formed in 2006, Main Street&nbsp;is a privately funded nonprofit coalition of businesses, city government and Downtown Visions aimed at revitalizing the business district. \u201cWe need retail,\u201d Hageman says, \u201cand Main Street is helping us accomplish that, concentrating on small businesses. It enables us to work on retail recruitment and retention.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Residential areas also are experiencing what might be called a \u201cboomlet.\u201d&nbsp; \u201cThe environment is changing,\u201d he says. \u201cWe have a lot of developers like the Buccini\/Pollin Group who see downtown as a jewel, and apartments are being built at an incredible rate, and with it are coming bars and restaurants and retail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like his career as a policeman, his work at Downtown Visions has drawn praise from many who work with him. Among them is Mark Fields, executive director at The Grand Opera House. \u201cMarty has been a genuine partner for me in several interlinked ways,\u201d says Fields. \u201cHe intuitively understands the importance of the creative sector and the arts for the present and future vibrancy of downtown Wilmington, and has always advocated for the arts community having a place at the table. He\u2019s long been an enthusiastic fan of The Grand and supportive of the IN Wilmington campaign. And he\u2019s a real champion of partnership and collaboration. More than anything, I appreciate Marty\u2019s unwavering but clear-eyed optimism for this community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Off the job, Hageman is close to his three children as well as his two stepdaughters from his second marriage. One of his daughters, Lindsay, is a Wilmington Police detective. He and his wife, Mary, enjoy frequent trips to Ocean City, Md. \u2014 \u201cwe\u2019re addicted to sunsets,\u201d he says. He\u2019s also an avid reader, and he likes to hike, kayak, and work out in his basement with weights and an elliptical machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So at 66, with such an active personal life, it\u2019s conceivable that Hageman might be considering retirement. \u201cNo way,\u201d says the man who has had just two employers in a 48-year career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got the best job in the world,\u201d he says. \u201cI get to work with government, including the governor and county officials, and with people in the arts, bankers, restaurant owners \u2014 you name it. I\u2019m still having fun, and I see results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He glances out the window of his modest office in the heart of Delaware\u2019s largest city and, with the optimism of a man who has lived and worked here his entire life, declares, \u201cRevitalization is really beginning to occur.\u201d WU<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2013 Bob Yearick<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This alumnus credits WilmU for much of his success as both a police officer and leader of Downtown Visions.&nbsp; Marty Hageman remembers when Downtown Visions,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[145,135],"tags":[650],"class_list":["post-1965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-magazine","tag-magazine-spring-2018"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":145,"label":"ALUMNI NEWS"},{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":650,"label":"Magazine Spring 2018"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Eric Mumford","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/eric\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":145,"name":"ALUMNI NEWS","slug":"alumni-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":702,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":113,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":145,"category_count":113,"category_description":"","cat_name":"ALUMNI NEWS","category_nicename":"alumni-news","category_parent":0},{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":650,"name":"Magazine Spring 2018","slug":"magazine-spring-2018","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1207,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":18,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14616,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965\/revisions\/14616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}