If there is a Good Guy in the raggedy, humbling Case of Mistaken Identity embarrassment that has been brought upon the Culver City Police Dept., it is Chief Scott Bixby.
The inside story of handing a botched red-light camera ticket to actor Steve Tom earlier this summer, is being patiently related to the community by Mr. Bixby.
It can be said with 100 percent assurance that the story would not have been told 20 years ago, during the regime of the legendary Ted Cooke.
Tales are told of how officers were punished for defeating Mr. Cooke in card games.
A number of Cooke successors during the past decade also may have hidden, denied or put a muzzle on events surrounding the Unnamed Officer who committed at least four errors in wrongly faulting Mr. Tom.
By admirable contrast, the placid, easygoing Mr. Bixby forthrightly answered every question when a journalist contacted him.
True to his nature and his ethical guidelines, Mr. Bixby publicly is taking his medicine that should be swallowed by a sloppy veteran cop who has brought embarrassment to Mr. Bixby and fellow officers.
Twenty-eight months into his tenure as chief, hometown boy Mr. Bixby has shown the community and his force how an honorable leader should conduct himself, privately and when the world is looking.
