Posted: 06 Dec 2008, Sat 9:15 pm Post subject: Video: Corrupt Texas Police Busted Doing Illegal Search
KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.
The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster’s attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster’s secret mobile office nearby.
To clarify just a bit, according to Cooper, there was nothing illegal going on the bait house, just two evergreen trees and some grow lamps. There was no probable cause. So a couple of questions come up. First, how did the cops get turned on to the house in the first place? Cooper suspects they were using thermal imaging equipment to detect the grow lamps, a practice the Supreme Court has said is illegal. The second question is, what probable cause did the police put on the affidavit to get a judge to sign off on a search warrant? If there was nothing illegal going on in the house, it's difficult to conceive of a scenario where either the police or one of their informants didn't lie to get a warrant.
Cooper chose the Odessa police department for baiting because he believes police there instructed an informant to plant marijuana on a woman named Yolanda Madden. She's currently serving an eight-year sentence for possession with intent to distribute. According to Cooper, the informant actually admitted in federal court that he planted the marijuana. Madden was convicted anyway.
The story's worth watching, not only to see if the cops themselves are held accountable for this, but whether the local district attorney tries to come up with a crime with which to charge Cooper and his assistants. I can't imagine such a charge would get very far, but I wouldn't be surprised to see someone try.
Barry Cooper's new reality show "Kop Busters" gets the footage for its pilot on 12/4/08.
There have been some questions about supporting "Kop Busters" through donations or help. The very best way to support "Kop Busters" is by purchasing Barry Cooper's "Never Get Busted" DVDs through his website: http://nevergetbusted.com/v2/
If you are set on a non-profit, there are several good organizations, albeit less electrifying than Barry Cooper. Some of my favorites include:
The National Organization for the Repeal of Marijuana Laws (NORML) http://norml.org/
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
Barry Cooper, a former Texas police officer with eight years of specialty in drug interdiction, first made waves when he released the film "Never Get Busted Again," a how-to guide for evading police drug seizures.
Austin, Texas-based Cooper's latest project is not nearly so benign, and will likely generate for the former drug warrior an army of enemies in law enforcement.
'KopBusters' is a reality TV program that aims to sink crooked officers.
"KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana," claims a release from NeverGetBusted.com "When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house."
"The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster's attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster's secret mobile office nearby.
"The attorney was handcuffed and later released when eleven KopBuster detectives arrived with the media in tow to question the illegal raid. The police refused to give KopBusters the search warrant affidavit which is suspected to contain the lies regarding the probable cause.
"It is not illegal to grow plants under a light in your home but it is illegal to lie on an affidavit and plant drugs on a citizen. This operation was the first of its kind in the history of America. Police sometimes have other police investigating their crimes but the American court system has never dealt with a group of citizens stinging the police. Will the police file charges on the team who took down the corrupt cops? We will keep you posted."
Cooper's "Never Get Busted Again" was a runaway success, the sales of which serve as financial support for this most recent project.
"The drug war is a failed policy and the legal side effects on the families are worse than the drugs," Cooper said to the Dallas Observer in early 2007. "I was so wrong in the things I did back then. I ruined lives."
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
Posted: 07 Dec 2008, Sun 1:07 pm Post subject: Odessa police officers
_________________ Cops that lie, need to die!
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
Posted: 07 Dec 2008, Sun 1:08 pm Post subject: Cops that lie should have their tongue cut out
Yeah you dumb fucking prick, you were set up! It's going to be fun finding out what lies the Odessa police used to get a judge to sign the search warrant. Can't wait to find out the name of the officers and the judge that signed the warrant.
"Just doing my job" didn't work at Nuremberg and it wont work now! We the people need to start cutting the nuts off these fascist cops
I still stand by my belief that any police officer that lies, should have his tongue cut out. _________________ Cops that lie, need to die!
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
Posted: 30 Dec 2008, Tue 11:52 am Post subject: Texas Police Corruption
An anonymous tipster appeared to be harrying cops.
It sounded like the plot of the latest TV pseudo-thriller: a rogue cop, a woman scorned, a helpless father, a drug grower, a small town pastor and police that play fast and loose with the constitution, all colliding after an anonymous letter tipped off police to an alleged marijuana farm in a Texas town.
Barry Cooper, a 39-year-old former drug cop turned filmmaker, said that short, poorly written and unattributed letter was the key that tied together motley crew of characters in his latest documentary. A preview of that documentary, a reality show Cooper has dubbed "KopBusters," is available exclusively from RAW STORY at the bottom of this page.
"I'm leaving Odessa because my boyfriend is out of control," an anonymous female allegedly wrote to the Odessa police on Dec. 3. "I can't talk to the police because I have traffic warrants."
The mysterious tipster claimed 80 marijuana plants were nearing harvest at a small house in the west Texas town, and that officers only had a few days to nab the culprit.
"He does not know I'm telling and thinks I don't know about him cheating on me," she continued. "He has been growing pot for a long time and never get caught and he is getting sloppy."
Based on the tip, police conducted surveillance on the house and determined several general statements about the property to be factual.
Within 12 hours, Judge Bill McCoy of the 258th District Court had signed a search warrant based upon the letter and the police department's periphery follow-up.
Little did the officers know, inside the house, the flora bathed beneath bright, heat-emitting grow lights wasn't marijuana but, instead, miniature Christmas trees.
As officers invaded with guns drawn, it quickly became apparent they'd been had. A handwritten poster proclaimed they had just become part of Cooper's new reality show, "KopBusters."
On Monday, Odessa City Manager Richard Morton insisted it was a simple mistake: the letter was allegedly given to officers with "Pastor Terry" written on an open envelope.
Cooper originally planned his first sting for an undisclosed location in Washington state. But after being contacted by Odessa resident Raymond Madden, whose daughter Yolanda was arrested in 2005 for possessing methamphetamine, "KopBusters" shifted course.
"The police got the wrong person," claims Yolanda's father on the 'KopBusters' trailer. "They thought she was someone else. Once they made the bust, they had to go through with it. You can't say, 'Oh, excuse me, we planted drugs.'"
A man who answered the telephone at the Odessa police department declined comment.
The sting was designed, Cooper said, to embarrass the cops that arrested Yolonda, and to put a public face on police neglect of the Fourth Amendment.
"It wasn't just this erroneous affidavit, but also the judge granted a bad warrant based solely on an anonymous tip," Cooper. said. "The Supreme Court has said an anonymous tip is not enough. Maybe we should make a new show called 'JudgeBusters.'"
Of course, it likely crossed Cooper's mind that several of his former partners are cops in Odessa. Or that his former narcotics task force was once based there. But the way he describes it, revenge is not atop his list. To Cooper, 'KopBusters' is almost a humanitarian mission.
Cooper says he thinks the cops actually wrote the letter, though he admits he has no formal evidence to back his claim. He says that he expects police used thermal imaging cameras to seek out heat from the grow lamps inside his rented house: an investigatory technique the Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional, but is still frequently used, especially in aerial observation.
"What I'm telling people is that anyone could have sent that letter," he said. "Anyone who gets pissed off at someone else could have dropped a letter in the offering basket at church, or sent an anonymous tip to police. That's the point of the court's logic: to prevent people from triggering false raids."
RAW STORY pressed him on the letter's origin, but Cooper stuck to his story.
"No, really, that's all I'm saying about the letter," he insisted. "Anybody could have written it. It doesn't matter who it came from. An anonymous tip is not enough to raid a home."
If Cooper sent the letter himself, he may have committed a crime.
Another sting, Cooper said, is coming very soon. "I could do it as quickly as 30 days."
'KopBusters: Vol. 1' is set for release in July.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008
/Barry_Cooper_debuts_first_KopBusters_trailer_1229.html _________________ Cops that lie, need to die!
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
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