Two Not One Gone Bad

I found Bob Russ' Aug. 15-16, 2020, Advertiser-Tribune column, "How to reform police," informative and forward thinking. It brought back a memory of a bad cop and a really bad cop when I was in the military and taking college classes on Naval Little Creek Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Virginia, back in the mid '80s. As drove through the gates onto the base headed for my evening classes, I had a mile of straight double lane road ahead of me. I was cruising along at the base speed limit of 40 mph when a approaching car on my left abruptly whipped into my lane ahead of me and hit his brakes. By this time my brakes were already pushed to the axle. The other driver immediately got out of his vehicle and started looking at his car then mine. Nether car made contact. I too looked closely at both vehicles with the other driver who could neither show me damage nor explain his actions. He too, as a civilian, was taking college classes on base. A few days later I received a traffic citation in the mail stating I caused damage to not one, not two, but three sides of this gentleman's car. I went to the amphibious police station and inquired how there could be vehicle damage when the vehicles never touched. I asked the desk officer who took the report if he actually looked at the alleged damaged vehicle. He acknowledged he did not since the gentleman filing the report was driving a different vehicle. The officer stated the citation could not be withdrawn.I found the car of the alleged accident a couple days later in a nearby base parking lot and took tape measurements upward from the ground of every scratch and dent on this alleged damaged vehicle. Then I measured from the ground the height of my front bumper. Nothing matches up, alleged damage did not exist. This information I took to the main Naval Station Police Station and presented it to the Chief of Police who, after a lively discussion, informed me the notice of the citation would be sent to the City of Norfolk Police Department and the Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles requesting point be placed on my driving record. As he abruptly turned and headed for his back office while his half dozen or so desk subordinates hearing the conversation looked on, I left the police chief with my parting words of observation, "Sir, You are running a corrupted department!"The following day I sent my arguments through my chain of command to the commanding Officer of the Norfolk Naval Station. A couple weeks later I received word the gentleman who alleged damage to three sides of his vehicle was permanently banned from entering area military installations. Richard HughesTiffin