The Trooper Required To Take Counseling For Posing With Snoop Dogg At SXSW Is Only Guilty Of Being An American

Billy Spears, a trooper for the Texas Department of Public Safety, is being punished for posing for a photo with Snoop Dogg at the South by Southwest Festival that the rapper uploaded to his Instagram account, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Now he must undergo counseling for taking a photo with “a public figure who has a well-known criminal background,” according to the department reprimand.

Which is weird to me because I don’t trust associate with people without a criminal background. A boring group, in my opinion.

DPS spokesperson, Tom Vinger said in a statement:

“DPS does not typically discuss or release specifics of personnel issues unless they result in disciplinary action as outlined in Government Code 411.00755 and 411.0072.”

Oh, it’s code 411.00755? Silly me, I thought it was code 411.07756. Thanks for speaking in terms we can can understand, dick.

He continues,

“Supervisors counsel and coach employees on a regular basis, and these efforts do not constitute formal discipline by the department.”

What is there to counsel? Like what’s the curriculum? Is the instructor going to follow Spears around with a camera and count how many pictures he can duck out of? I need answers.

Attorney Ty Clevenger is representing Spears and said he is calling attention to the situation because Spears has no option other than to accept the action (because it’s not classified as formal discipline), which becomes part of his personnel record.

Clevenger said:

“This is not in their policy. They’re making this stuff up as they go.”

I don’t want to live in a country where my public safety officers cannot take a picture with an international icon. If this counseling junk doesn’t get dropped asap, I’m moving to Canada and becoming a Bieber fan.

[Via Dallas Morning News]

Matt Keohan Avatar
Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.