Marion Barry has always had an intimate relationship with lawmen.
Playing the black militant in his early days in D.C., he taunted cops and was arrested. But when Barry turned politician, he lobbied cops. Black police unions endorsed his first mayoral run. He appointed solid chiefs, like Maurice Turner and Ike Fulwood.
When the crack epidemic hit D.C. in the early 1980s, then-Mayor Barry ignored pleas from police to combat the coming scourge. He gradually succumbed to cocaine addiction. He used his security detail as a shield and occasionally to deliver envelopes with cash for drug payments.
The videotape of Barry drawing on a crack pipe just before police and the FBI busted him at the Vista Hotel in January 1990 is legendary.
He’s had recent run-ins with the U.S. Park Police. In March 2002, police responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle parked by the Anacostia River. They searched Barry’s car and found traces of cocaine. He said they planted it.
In 2005 he pleaded guilty to charges of failing to file income taxes. Soon after his plea, he tested positive for marijuana and cocaine.
Secret Service officers pulled him over in September 2006 for running a red light near the White House. He pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol.
Two months later, Park Police officers detained him for driving too slowly and cited him for driving on a suspended license.
A federal court judge is considering whether to extend his probation in the ongoing tax case.
