Posted on 10/31/2007 7:01:11 AM PDT by SubGeniusX
A former top narcotics officer, credited with over 800 arrests in eight years, is now selling a DVD that shows marijuana users how to avoid arrest when traveling with a stash. Law enforcement officials are outraged.
The opening of Barry Cooper's DVD has that same compelling, grainy quality you find on true-life cop shows: police cars in high-speed pursuit, drug dogs jumping into the backs of pickups, hidden cameras in hotel rooms and cardboard boxes stuffed with cellophane-wrapped marijuana bricks. But one thing is clear: this is real. The people are about to make their debut on local news.
The DVD is called Never Get Busted Again, and these pictures are from Barry Cooper's previous life. That's what gives him his unique credibility. As a narcotics officer in West Texas, Cooper was a law enforcement star. That was partly due to his work ethic: Stopping 30 cars a day on the highways was routine for Cooper and his K-9 companion.
"We would pull over cars that had college bumper stickers, because we knew college kids often partied with marijuana," Cooper says. "We would pull over 'Vietnam Vet' plates, because a lot of our vets developed a habit over there."
"I feel bad about it," he admits. "I would look for Mexicans. I would look for black people. It works."
When Cooper was invited to train other police departments, he made a game of it. After two days of training, Cooper would ride along on a shift with one of their officers. If he didn't make at least one drug bust during that time, the cost of the training was on him. He never paid a dime.
"There is no highway or jurisdiction that I couldn't work an eight-hour shift and put somebody in jail for drugs," Cooper says.
On the Wrong Side of Small-Town Politics
But when Cooper left West Texas and moved to Upshur County in East Texas, things began to turn. First, Cooper arrested the mayor's son for possession of methamphetamines. He then arrested a city councilman for driving with a bag of pot and a gun. Busting long-hairs on the highway was one thing, but the aggressive narcotics officer was not endearing himself to important people in East Texas. After four years, Cooper left law enforcement behind. He then discovered a little of what life is like on the other side of the police baton.
"I used to break into houses at three o'clock in the morning with 10 other men, after throwing a flash grenade through the window," Cooper says. "I would drag Mom and Dad away and send the kids to the department of human services — over a bag of pot — and totally ruin that entire family. I started reaping what I had sown."
Without the cloak of being a police officer and in the middle of a contentious divorce, Cooper was on the wrong side of small-town politics. He was arrested for returning rental movies late and for unlawfully carrying a gun. His ex-brother-in-law, a constable, showed up with an order to remove his two girls. They put up such a fight, the effort was abandoned.
All of the charges against Cooper were eventually reduced or dismissed entirely, but he was angry. So he figured out a way to hit back — and make money doing it.
Getting Even
"In this section," Cooper narrates on the DVD, "you get to see me make actual narcotics arrests, caught from my dash-mounted patrol camera. And you get to see the mistakes others made, so pay close attention."
The cover of Never Get Busted Again has a picture of Cooper smiling in front of a big marijuana leaf. The chapters have titles like "Search and Seizure," "Hiding Your Stash," "Narcotics Profiling" and "Canines," which gives tips on fooling drug-sniffing dogs.
"Remember what you've been taught," Cooper advises on-screen. "The handler just thinks the dog is being interested in food."
Cooper has dozens of tips. For instance, surrounding marijuana with coffee grounds doesn't work, because the dogs can still smell the dope. For those traveling by car, the video recommends taking their pet cat along, because the K-9 won't stop trying to play with the cat, even if it's taken out of the car.
Cooper laces his advice with factoids about the war on pot. He claims 750,000 Americans are arrested every year for possession and that 400,000 of them are under the age of 25.
Anger Among Law Enforcement
Cooper is not alone among current or former law enforcement officers in his opposition to marijuana laws. But his DVD is no laughing matter to many Texas narcotics officers.
"I don't know how he justifies having played one side of the fence and putting people in jail, and now playing the other side and helping them avoid it," says Herschel Tebay, commander of the Tarrant County Organized Crime Narcotics Unit in Fort Worth. "I don't know how he lives with himself and looks in the mirror."
Tebay says Cooper had a good reputation as a narcotics officer, but he resents that Cooper now helps marijuana users and smugglers. Still, there is little he can do about it.
"One of the things about America is that people can do things you don't like," Tebay says. "And Barry is certainly doing something a lot of people don't like. That doesn't make it illegal."
Cooper plans to make a second DVD called Never Get Raided Again. Texas narcotics officers like that project even less. They're worried that if someone uses Cooper's tips on avoiding a raid, a police officer could get hurt.
Cool.
Personally I don't know how they can live with themselves busting up families for a bag of pot. Good for him.
MrLeRoy’s wet dream...........
Ah yes, the War on Drugs... will he good times never end?
Not a good way for a cop to keep his job. I have a relative who lost his job for being on the wrong side of a "cop busts city councilman's kid" story. He refused to fire the "troublesome" cop in question, so the council fired him and hired someone who would play along with making the problem go away.
I don't do drugs, but I might buy the video. You never know when you might have to haul something else like ammo under the Hillary regime that you don't want found.
And the house and assets can be confiscated without due process.
What a full of himself @ss...
These yahoos are a scourge on law enforcement and flaunt the constitution. Abuse of power continues everywhere and people wonder why the cops aren't trusted....
Mike
I was listening to NPR and I heard this. I actually read about this in the newspaper almost a year ago. Must be a slow news day if they need to regurgitate news that really isn’t that new.
First, Cooper arrested the mayor's son for possession of methamphetamines. He then arrested a city councilman for driving with a bag of pot and a gun. Busting long-hairs on the highway was one thing, but the aggressive narcotics officer was not endearing himself to important people in East Texas.
Asked and answered.
This story is at least two years old.
This “war on drugs” is how small town, rural police departments are fielding heavily armed and armored SWAT teams. The Crandon, WI shooter was one of these pot busters.
Easy pickings and revenuing by coward police too busy to answer calls and respond to hardened criminals.
Maybe he does it so he can sleep nights. I am not a legalized drugs advocate but I think a lot of police and departments go way overboard against drugs. Cooper sounds like one such officer who is now in recovery. And is up to step nine.
Not to mention the fact that fewer real criminals are arrested and prosecuted these days it seems. How many violent criminals are allowed to continue roaming the streets for every nonviolent drug offender that is prosecuted?
I can’t imagine a guy busting up his own family because he wants to smoke dope.
Well, I’m no fan of aiding and abetting criminals, but I do think police have gone too far in using paramilitary tactics when serving warrants on recreational drug users. It was only a matter of time before some police officers who saw that firsthand decided to speak out against it, but seems like this guy is more interested in making a buck than making a statement.
That's true of everything, not just drugs.
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