Report: Texas DPS officer forced to take counseling for posing with Snoop Dogg at SXSW

Billy Spears, a trooper for the Texas Department of Public Safety, is in trouble for allowing rapper Snoop Dogg to pose with him for a picture published on the rapper's Instagram page during the South by Southwest Festival, according to the Dallas Morning News. DMN's Christy Hoppe reports that Spears must undergo counseling for taking the photo with "a public figure who has a well-known criminal background," according to a department counseling reprimand. less Billy Spears, a trooper for the Texas Department of Public Safety, is in trouble for allowing rapper Snoop Dogg to pose with him for a picture published on the rapper's Instagram page during the South by ... more Photo: Screenshot Via Instagram Photo: Screenshot Via Instagram Image 1 of / 42 Caption Close Report: Texas DPS officer forced to take counseling for posing with Snoop Dogg at SXSW 1 / 42 Back to Gallery

A trooper for the Texas Department of Public Safety is in trouble for allowing rapper Snoop Dogg to pose with him for a picture published on the rapper's Instagram page, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The photo posted to Instagram shows Snoop Dogg leaning on DPS Trooper Billy Spears' shoulder while the trooper is in uniform at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, where the rapper was the keynote speaker.

The caption reads, "Me n my deputy dogg"

The Dallas Morning News' Christy Hoppe reported Wednesday that DPS Trooper Billy Spears must undergo counseling for taking the photo with "a public figure who has a well-known criminal background," according to a department counseling reprimand.

In 2008, DPS troopers pulled his tour bus over in Corsicana and arrested two people for marijuana possession. Snoop Dogg, whose legal name is Calvin Broadus, has previously been convicted for drug possession.

RELATED:Snoop Dogg says he smoked pot at the White House

Snoop Dogg and his bodyguard were also acquitted in a 1993 murder case during which the bodyguard fatally shot a member of a rival gang.

Spears' attorney Ty Clevenger told Hoppe that Spears, who was called from his East Texas home in Gilmer to work the festival, did not recognize the rapper when the photo was shot and has no means to appeal the decision by DPS officials because it wasn't a disciplinary action.

"Troopers get called down to work these events all the time and sometimes people want a picture with them," Clevenger said.

Clevenger told the Dallas Morning News he believes the counseling reprimand was a retaliatory action taken against Spears, who in 2014 accused an officer for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission of engaging in unprofessional conduct.

That prompted an investigation into Spears, but he was cleared of wrongdoing, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Spears was instructed during counseling to tell people "no" if they request to take a photo with him, according to the Dallas Morning News.

(h/t @ChristyHoppe)

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports