Oak Harbor Man Who Posed As Retired Cop For Over 20 Years Gets Busted!

Jim Bailey, a 69-year-old citizen of Oak Harbor, Washington, was arrested after he was accused of posing as a police officer for over two decades! According to a report by Komo News, Bailey was caught in the act after he was seen wearing a shirt that identified him as a member of the Oak Harbor Police Department. Jim Bailey’s run as a retired cop ended last month on August 6, after he tried to intervene in a fight between a man and a woman at an Oak Harbor road intersection.

Oak Harbor Police Chief Ed Green describes the incident, saying,

“He had held down the male or pulled him aside and directed the other individual to call the police and say that an officer needs assistance”.

Now, any call with the term “officer needs assistance” is taken very seriously by cops and they responded immediately to it, only to find that there was no officer in the vicinity who needed any assistance. The only people present there were the couple and Bailey himself. While it was not immediately evident to the responding officers that Bailey had been posing as a police officer, following a month long investigation, it became evident that Bailey was indeed masquerading as a retired officer. In fact, he had even advertised and placed ads in local newspapers offering his professional services. People around him also believed he indeed was a retired officer – for over 20 years!

A resident of Oak Harbor March Belcher quipped,

“To be able to do that for 25 years and get away with it is kind of surprising, but, yeah, it’s completely wrong.”

According to chief Green,

“He was listed as an officer doing certain training and things, so there became some concern that he was acting as an officer, maybe obtaining information that he shouldn’t be obtaining, maybe obtaining information that we need.” Green said.

Another resident of Oak Harbor, shocked at the revelation, says,

“Twenty-five years, I mean, that’s a really long time and for no one to even realize for that long a time is actually kind of terrifying in a way. Cause who else is out there doing it?”

While Jim Bailey might have not been an actual police officer, he was actually an Oak Harbor reserve officer for three years. He had in fact even joined a police academy – but never graduated.

Officers from Oak Harbor like several others were unhappy and are now investigating if he had conned people for offering them his “professional services” – even though he wasn’t a police officer.

A visibly upset Oak Harbor police Chief Ed Green added,

“We take this profession very seriously. We work significantly hard to get into this profession, a lot of pride and a lot of integrity in what we do and I don’t need someone coming along and portraying to be somebody they aren’t.”

Have you heard of any similar cases in which people have been able to impersonate someone for this long?

[Image Via Q13Fox]