Barry Cooper (activist)
Barry Cooper (born May 21, 1969) is an anti-drug-war lecturer known for his DVD series, "Never Get Busted" and his reality show, KopBusters. Cooper formerly served as a law enforcement officer.
Early life
Cooper was raised in California until age ten when his family moved to Texas. He then began training dogs in obedience, hunting, and working with livestock. Cooper was also the pastor of a church for a number of years.
Law enforcement years
Cooper began his law enforcement career with the Gladewater Police Department as a police dispatcher. He was later hired by the Big Sandy Police Department as an interdiction officer in East Texas and trained his own narcotic detection dog. According to his former West Texas Drug Taskforce boss, Barry Cooper was “probably the best narcotics officer in the state and maybe the country.” [1]
As a law enforcement officer, Cooper confiscated large amounts of illegal narcotics and drug money. Cooper cited that he began to notice that people who were arrested for possession of marijuana were nonviolent and cooperative in contrast to the people that were arrested for violations while intoxicated on alcohol who “[…] would fight and scream and act crazy.” He also noted being deeply affected by the emotional trauma he witnessed while participating in home narcotic raids with other officers attired in raid gear and “more guns than we would ever need.” Cooper also stated, “We’re sending the kids to the department of human services, we’re sending the parents to jail over marijuana. Well, I knew some of these people and I knew they weren’t gangsters. I knew they were nonviolent people.” He quit law enforcement soon after.[2]
Political career
Cooper ran as a Libertarian in the 2010 Texas Attorney General Race on a "pro-pot, pro-gun, pro-family platform."[3][4]
He had previously filed as a Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress District 31 in Texas.[5]
In 2010, he attempted to run for Texas Attorney General, but was forced to drop out of the race due to multiple arrests. The charges, which Cooper believes were instigated due to his activism and political motivation, were all either dropped, thrown out by the prosecutor, or settled by a plea bargain. In an interview, Cooper has stated that he believes the charges were brought against him in order to keep him out of Texas politics.[6]
Lecturer, expert witness and case consultant
Cooper has lectured before the Texas Criminal Defense Attorney Association, Florida Public Defenders Association, and universities in Texas and Florida. He serves as expert legal witness or case consultant in police corruption cases specifically concerning K-9 false alerts.[7]
References
- ^ The Austin Chronicle "Tricks of the Trade?"
- ^ Barry Cooper, "Never get busted again, Vol. 1: Traffic Stops" (2007) DVD ISBN 978-1-932857-97-9
- ^ Independent Political Report website, "Update on Barry Cooper, Libertarian for Attorney General of Texas"
- ^ Fox News "Freedom Watch" interview with Barry Cooper, 2010 candidate for Texas Attorney General
- ^ Cooper's political history
- ^ The Austin Cut, "An Interview With Barry Cooper: How law enforcement kept Texas’ ex-narcotics cop turned activist out of the race for Attorney General"
- ^ List of achievements from official website