Former Wister P.D. Chief volunteers at Wister Schools as new school year opens

On Aug. 5, Wister Police Department Chief Brandon Cooper resigned his duties and ended up becoming a patrolman for the Heavener Police Department, currently working the night shift.

However, the law enforcement officer was not going to let anything deter him from helping out as a volunteer at the drop-off site Tuesday morning for Wister students as they returned to school for the new year.

“The kids are the reason I was there (Tuesday) morning,” said Cooper, who was aided by former Wister Police Chief Dwade Shatswell and two LeFlore County Sheriff’s Department deputies — Sgt. Casey Linville and Lt. Paul Moss. “Despite not being employed by the Town of Wister, it is my hometown. I developed a bond with a lot of the kids during my time as a police officer and chief of police. I wasn’t going to miss their first day back!”

The main objective Cooper wanted to achieve on being present Tuesday morning at Wister Schools was to see the kids and make sure they were safe.

“I just wanted to see the kids and make sure that they were all safe on their first day,” he said.

Cooper said he is not concerned about what anyone in the Town of Wister may think about his volunteering as he did Tuesday morning.

“I don’t care about any ‘flack,’ he said. “My only concern was making sure the kids were safe. I can care less about what the current council thinks — apart from (Wister Board of Trustee) Carla Pride, who happened to be there along side me.”

Unless sick or another obligation arises, Wister students can plan on seeing Cooper each morning at the drop-off site at Wister Schools.

“I plan on being there no matter what to see the kids off,” Cooper said. “It didn’t seem right for me not to be there (Tuesday morning). I know I can’t do it every day because of my night shifts (with Heavener Police Department), but I will be there when I can!”

The Town of Wister Board of Trustees called a special meeting July 15 namely to remove Cooper as Wister Police Department Chief as well as Lt. Shawn Booth.

By the time the regularly-scheduled August meeting came about Aug. 1, Town of Wister Board of Trustees Legal Counsel Robert Stockton made the board aware that not all the proper protocols had been followed when the July 15 meeting took place.

So, at the Aug. 1 emergency meeting at the regularly-scheduled meeting, both Cooper and Booth were re-hired.

In a special meeting Aug. 4, the board made the decision to not terminate Cooper but to have trustees Max Harris and Steven Morris talk with Cooper regarding “pending termination,” while Booth resigned prior to the Aug. 4 meeting. The day after that meeting, Cooper resigned, but he is leaving the door open for a return.

“Come April 2023, under a new council, I will be back (as Wister Police Department Chief)!”