An off-duty Bakersfield Police officer who was found asleep inside a movie theater with his department-issued firearm in his lap has been returned to duty.

In December 2019, the BPD officers were called to the theater after receiving reports of a man asleep with a gun in his lap. The theater was showing the movie “Frozen 2.”

The movie had ended when the man, later identified as Bakersfield police officer Douglas Barrier, was discovered by theater staff. When police arrived, body camera footage shows them discussing how to approach Barrier, who was still asleep. After they remove the gun from his lap, responding officers appear to recognize Barrier as a department colleague.

Multiple officers then shut off or muted their body cameras, based on reviews of the footage.

A police report noted that Barrier “appeared disheveled in appearance”, and his “jeans were unzipped.” The report said officers could “smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath and person.”

A public intoxication charge against Barrier was dismissed in July 2020 after he completed a deferred entry of judgment program, records show.

“He has been returned to duty,” Bakersfield police Sergeant Robert Pair confirmed in an email. “Any other details, including disposition of the administrative investigation is a personnel matter and I’m prohibited from discussing it by law,” he wrote.

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