By Kathryn Gregory
Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette
Police officers have always enjoyed the comforts of a uniformed brotherhood, but for two Charleston officers, the term is literal.
Patrolman Chris Cooper always knew he wanted to be a police officer.
“When I graduated kindergarten, I said this is what I wanted to do,” Chris said.
Older brother, Sgt. Steve Cooper, who has been chief of detectives with the department since 2004, went into the State Police academy when Chris was in third grade.
For Chris, 24, who just finished up his one-year probation period with the department, being a police officer was a lifetime dream.
Steve, who is 16 years Chris’ senior, spent many years trying to talk him out of following him into the police force.
“Most of the time, people who spend time in the service try to dissuade their family members from joining because of the innate stress of the job,” Steve said with a smile. “But it was obvious he was going to do it anyway.”
Even though Chris, who graduated from West Virginia State University with a degree in criminal justice, was coming into the department with a known name, he didn’t get any special treatment.
“He’s made his own way,” Steve said.
In fact, he might have had an even harder time.
“I get razzed a little,” Chris said, but added that he doesn’t mind.
Although Steve tried to let Chris figure out the ropes of the police force without his help, he did offer him one piece of advice.
“Ears open, mouth shut. And that’s not just for the first year. You have to earn a place,” Chris said. “You can’t come in and be one of the boys right away.
“I would have had the tendency to make friends right away, but instead I kept my distance and learned as much as I could.”
And Chris said that he has learned more by just observing his fellow shift officers on a day-to-day basis than he ever imagined.
Chris, who works the same West Side beat his brother worked when he was on patrol 16 years ago, has embraced working one of the busiest parts of Charleston.
“It’s different every day,” he said. “You never do the same thing twice.”
The West Side is “a good place to cut your teeth as a cop,” Steve said.
Chris remembers one particular domestic violence dispute that almost turned deadly.
The suspect “was almost waiting on us with a gun, but he couldn’t seem to get it out of his holster.”
Chris said he saw the gun and his training from the academy immediately kicked in. The patrolman stayed calm and handled the potential dangerous situation without anyone getting hurt.
But afterwards, his emotions caught up with him. “I was like, ‘I can’t believe I just did that’,” he said.
Stress is a big part of the job, Chris said, but the camaraderie between the officers makes the job a lot of fun.
“You get really close to these guys who are complete strangers,” Chris said.
The Coopers grew up on Charleston’s West Side, and Chris said he looked up to the officers who worked there before he even knew their names.
Now that he has joined their ranks, and works side-by-side with his brother, he knows this is what he was meant to do his whole life.
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted,” he said.
Although the two brothers don’t interact on a daily basis in their individual lines of work, Steve Cooper said he does keep an eye Chris “from a distance.”
“His career has brought me a lot of pride,” Steve said. “We have a great crop of young guys that are really proficient and professional and I have high hopes for the future of the department.”
But most of all, Steve hopes his brother has “a better career than I do. I am very pleased with my own and I’ve worked with a lot of great guys, but I can only hope his will far exceed mine.”
And Chris plans on doing just that.
“This is the only department I’ve ever wanted to work for,” he said. “I’m where I want to be.”
Copyright 2010 Charleston Newspapers