Fighting Parole for the Killer of LAPD Officer Jim Pagliotti — with Glynn Martin
Nearly forty years after 28-year-old LAPD Officer Jim Pagliotti was shot and killed in the line of duty, the man convicted of his murder is once again approaching a parole hearing. For Pagliotti's family, friends, and fellow officers, that means once again reliving a loss that has never gone away.
On this episode of the National Police Association Podcast, host Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith (Ret.) speaks with Glynn Martin, a retired LAPD sergeant, longtime friend and former partner of Officer Jim Pagliotti, and Executive Director of the LAPD Memorial Foundation. Martin has been involved with the Pagliotti family since the night Jim was murdered and has participated in the decades-long effort to keep his killer behind bars.
From LAPD Partners to Lifelong Friends
Martin discusses his own path into law enforcement, following his father, a retired Glendale Police Department captain, into the profession. He joined the LAPD in 1982 and served for twenty years in assignments ranging from Hollywood's Special Problems Unit and Vice to major narcotics and patrol supervision.
It was during those early years that Martin became close friends with Officer Jim Pagliotti. They weren't simply coworkers. They worked multiple assignments together, owned a house together, and Pagliotti served as a groomsman in Martin's wedding shortly before his death.
The Murder of Officer Jim Pagliotti
Pagliotti was pursuing his goal of joining LAPD SWAT and had transferred to Metropolitan Division when he was assigned to a plainclothes surveillance operation in the San Fernando Valley.
During that operation, officers encountered armed suspects. Pagliotti confronted Louis Belvin Jr., and the two exchanged gunfire. Both were hit. Belvin survived; Pagliotti did not.
Belvin was a known gang member and cocaine dealer who was just weeks short of his 18th birthday. According to Martin, he had also previously shot another person. After a case that took approximately four and a half years to reach trial, Belvin was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 27 years and eight months in state prison.
Martin also recounts one of the most painful experiences of his career: traveling by LAPD helicopter to Santa Barbara in the early morning hours to personally tell Pagliotti's parents that their son had been killed.
A Parole Fight That Never Ends
Belvin has repeatedly sought parole, with hearings discussed in the episode occurring in 2005, 2010, 2017, 2022, and 2023. Another parole proceeding is expected in October 2026.
Martin argues that Belvin has never genuinely accepted responsibility for murdering Pagliotti. He says Belvin has continued to claim that he mistook the plainclothes officer for someone seeking retaliation over a drug dispute—an explanation Martin describes as factually false.
Martin also discusses what he says are continuing concerns about Belvin's prison conduct and gang connections, including allegations that he has been a "shot caller" associated with United Blood Nation and has repeatedly been caught possessing cell phones in prison.
For Pagliotti's loved ones, every new parole proceeding means reopening the same wound.
"The Pagliotti family is never gonna heal because every couple of years, we're picking that scab."
To oppose parole for Louis Belvin, Jr. (#H33133), letters are due by September 16, 2026.
Emails may be submitted to [email protected]
Emailed statements should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document, or PDF.
Mail a letter:
Board of Parole Hearings
Post Office Box 4036
Sacramento, CA 95812-4036
Typed statements should be in 10-point font or larger. Handwritten statements should be legible. The writer’s contact information (address, phone number, and email address) should not be included on the written statement.
Always include inmate #H33133 in all correspondence.
When the Scales of Justice Become Unbalanced
Martin argues that California's parole process has become heavily weighted toward the inmate while repeatedly forcing victims' families to revisit the worst moment of their lives.
Having represented and supported the Pagliotti family since the morning he delivered the death notification, Martin says he has watched extensive attention and resources directed toward the inmate while seeing comparatively little done for the victims.
The National Police Association has joined the effort to oppose Belvin's release and is encouraging supporters of law enforcement and concerned citizens to make their voices heard before the upcoming parole proceeding.
Because attendance at parole hearings is limited, Sgt. Smith encourages listeners to submit letters and emails opposing parole and to encourage others to become involved.
For Martin, the issue goes beyond honoring a murdered friend or supporting the law-enforcement community. He believes it is also a matter of public safety.
"If this person is released, he will kill again."
Martin says he reaches that conclusion based on his decades of law-enforcement experience, his knowledge of the case, and his work supporting the families of fallen LAPD officers.
In This Episode
- Glynn Martin's path from aspiring sportswriter to LAPD officer
- Policing Los Angeles in the 1980s
- Martin's friendship and partnership with Jim Pagliotti
- Pagliotti's ambition to become an LAPD SWAT officer
- The surveillance operation that ended in Pagliotti's murder
- Martin's emotional account of notifying Pagliotti's parents
- The prosecution and conviction of Louis Belvin Jr.
- Why Martin rejects Belvin's continuing self-defense explanation
- Belvin's repeated parole proceedings
- The impact recurring parole hearings have on victims' families
- Concerns about Belvin's alleged prison gang activity and misconduct
- Why the NPA is asking the public to oppose parole
- The October 2026 parole proceeding
- Why Martin believes keeping Belvin incarcerated remains a public-safety issue
About Glynn Martin
Glynn Martin served twenty years with the Los Angeles Police Department and is Executive Director of the LAPD Memorial Foundation, which supports the families of LAPD officers killed in the line of duty. Martin has remained involved with the Pagliotti family and the effort to oppose Belvin's parole for decades.
At the conclusion of the episode, Martin directs listeners to LAPMF.org and the Foundation's social-media channels to learn more about its work supporting the families of fallen officers.
