Cop Down, Shot on Drug Arrest by a Sniper

Cop Down, Shot on Drug Arrest by a Sniper, The True Story. A planned drug arrest in Mississippi suddenly erupted into a deadly ambush. Gunfire rained down from a sniper positioned on a hill. One police officer was struck three times and barely survived. An armed drug dealer was also shot. For Merle Temple and his fellow narcotics officers, it became a brutal reminder of the risk and danger they faced during America’s first war on drugs. Supporting articles about this and much more from Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast in platforms like Medium , Blogspot and Linkedin. It was the late 1970s, a time before the bulletproof vest became standard equipment in police work. The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast social media like their Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , Medium and other social media platforms. Temple, a former captain with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, shares his remarkable story on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast. His experiences later inspired multiple novels filled with crime, corruption, faith, betrayal, and survival. The Podcast is available for free on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast website, also on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, iHeartradio and most major podcast platforms. #LawEnforcementTalk #Free #Podcast #Radio A Drug Arrest Turned Into a Sniper Ambush Temple and his team were preparing for a buy-bust operation targeting suspected drug dealers. They knew the arrest would be dangerous, but they had no idea that the suspects had allegedly positioned a sniper above them. Just before leaving for the operation, Temple experienced an overwhelming feeling that he needed to turn around. “God scared me to death,” Temple said. “He commanded me to go back and get the bulletproof vests.” Temple initially resisted the warning. Body armor was not commonly worn by police officers in 1976, and his unit had only two vests available. Still, he returned and retrieved them. That decision may have saved lives. “They let it get away from them,” Temple recalled about the attempted arrest. “The drug dealers had a sniper with a rifle up on a hill, and he rained fire down on us. It was a terrible day.” The scene exploded into chaos. A police officer was shot three times and came close to death. A suspect was also struck by gunfire. The heavy protective vests Temple had gone back to retrieve suddenly became critically important. Cop Down, Shot on Drug Arrest by a Sniper, The True Story. The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast, is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and other major podcast platforms. The interview is also featured across Facebook and Instagram. It was a real-life Cop Down, Shot on Drug Arrest by a Sniper story, one that revealed the extraordinary dangers faced by early narcotics officers. Before Bulletproof Vests Became Standard Police Equipment Modern officers routinely recognize the importance of body armor, but police equipment was much different during the 1970s. Temple’s unit had only two protective vests, and wearing one was far from commonplace. Narcotics agents frequently worked alone, without the tactical teams, communications technology, surveillance equipment, and immediate backup available to many officers today. “In those days, the unit was small,” Temple said. “There really wasn’t any backup, you were on your own.” That isolation increased the risk of every undercover meeting, drug purchase, vehicle stop, and arrest. Agents could find themselves surrounded by armed suspects miles away from help. Temple repeatedly faced that reality during his career. From FBI Fingerprint Technician to Undercover Drug Agent Before entering narcotics enforcement, Temple worked as a fingerprint technician for the FBI. He later served as a deputy sheriff and became one of Mississippi’s earliest designated narcotics officers. Temple attended Ole Miss and finished school around the time President Richard Nixon was launching the national “war on drugs.” He joined the newly formed Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and spent much of his career working undercover. “It was exciting,” he said. “I didn’t know what I was getting into.” Temple eventually became an area commander and captain with the agency. His assignments placed him inside a violent criminal world where exposure could mean kidnapping, torture, or death. A 1989 profile in The Augusta Chronicle reported that Temple had been held hostage by two suspects while working undercover. It also described his survival of a sniper ambush carried out by cocaine dealer