Barry Cooper, a former Texas police officer notorious for questionable tactics and results that pleased his superiors has switched roles since his retirement from the police force. This article by Michael May of the Texas Observer and reprinted on Alternet details a police career that reads like the fictional character from FX's The Shield, Vic Mackey. What's different about Cooper is after he left the police force he completely switched sides of the law and has produced a series of videos called Never Get Busted Again and been an in-general nuisance to law enforcement. Now "the man" will show you how to beat "the man!" He even has a website. I highly recommend you check it out for the entertainment value alone, but it also includes some helpful tips on dealing with law enforcement and has resources you can purchase. He even set up production on a television show where he ran a sting operation on a police force he suspected might be dirty . He posted video of the sting in which he used a staged weed grow house on Youtube:
That takes a lot of guts to do, even if you are a former cop and know your way around the law like Cooper does. Unfortunately Cooper's story does not have a happy ending for now. As many of you may know cops are often vindictive dicks, and they obviously did not take kindly to being given a black eye. From the above linked story by Michael May:
"Williamson County police arrested Cooper, and they did something police almost never do: raided his home on a misdemeanor charge. The charge was: “false report to a peace officer," for a phone call made to police about the duffel bag left at the school."The officers even called child services alleging that Cooper and his wife had given drugs to their 17 year old daughter. There was enough speculation that now Cooper's stepson, Zach, has been disallowed from staying with him by his biological father who has filed for custody of the boy. I think what the author May did a good job of conveying with his article is Barry Cooper is a guy looking for redemption, much like Michael Chiklis' classic character from The Shield should have been looking for. He was beginning to find that redemption albeit in an unconventional manner, and as soon as he started to make some amends the system beat him down. He wasn't rapping on a song saying F*&% the Police or anything silly. He was trying to hold law enforcement accountable and, from what Michael May has written, it seems they have broken him for now. I hope he makes a comeback from his personal turmoil because honestly he is a real life super hero to me. Police in this country have gone too far, and it's not as if they are going to get more considerate. A police officer can not be told anything except exactly what they want to hear exactly how they want to hear it or the person saying it is likely to get tazed or maybe worse. For more on my views on police, click to police tag on the right side of the page, but there are more extensive websites on police abuse out there if you search for them.
Wow, what a downer post. I'm going to go listen to some Rage Against the Machine and clean one of my guns. TAKE THE POWER BACK!
