Sometimes folks ask me why I go after DUI's so much - why I'll go out of my way to try and find them when citizens call them in, why I put in the extra shifts to hunt them, even knowing how much of a pain everything will be come court time. I get asked why I can't just cut them a break, or give them a ride home, that it won't ever happen again.
But then folks will do things that put it back in my mind. Like the officer we had a couple of months back who got himself arrested for a DUI on his night off. Bad choices on his part, and as unfortunate as it is to say, I don't have a lot of sympathy for it. Especially when you are more than 3 times the limit - cop or not, you make certain choices and pay the consequences.
Well, last night was another of those reminders as well. Fortunately I wasn't working it, but got most of the details today. Nothing I'm posting that isn't in the papers, but I won't identify much more than that.
Seems one of our officers ended up going to stop a car. Said car decided to run instead of stopping - less than five minutes later the driver had managed to head-on into a tree and died at the hospital.
25 years old. Already on a suspended license for a DUI once this year. Alcohol a factor in this crash as well.
Not only did this young lady end her own life through a series of bad choices, but now her family & friends have to deal with the after effects as well. Plus the officer involved is dealing with things. Internal and media scrutiny, Monday-morning quarterbacking of his choices and everyone talking about him is one thing. But try to imagine how he's feeling as well - the thoughts in his head of what different that he might have done to change the ending, what he could have done in those five minutes that would have possibly altered a lifetime.
The driver made her choices, both in drinking, in choosing to drive, and in running from the police. Just like countless others do every night in some way. Hopefully someone else out there may look at the results of her choices, the ripples of destruction outwards that touch so many others, and instead of driving find another way.
But if not, I'll be making my choice as well - hoping to keep it from ending in disaster.
6 comments:
It is too bad she killed herself because she chose to drink and drive and then run from the police. Hopefully this will be a lesson to others who were close to her. Drinking and driving does not pay - it kills.
The drunk guy who drove straight into me learned that the hard way, too. He died. All because he chose to put others' lives in danger when he got behind the wheel and drove drunk.
You go get those drunks!!
Excellent points, Sean. I don't understand the mentality of people who drive drunk, never have, never will. And I have zero sympathy for them if they get caught and punished. It's not nearly as bad as them killing or injuring other people or themselves.
God Bless you, Sean.
It scares the hell out of me that with the economy falling apart, and jobs lost everywhere, that I work in an industry that is not slowing down (DUI, um, remediation.)43% growth THIS YEAR. 43%! I realize laws are getting stiffer, but it is not just that. I think everyone's big "hope," ISN'T. Value of life is down, drinking is up, and the 2 do not mix well AT ALL. Work like what you do is exactly why I am not a cop. It would be too tempting to fix things myself.
Good riddance. That's one less shithead in the world that could take the life of me, my friends, or my family.
At least she only killed herself. So often, it's not the drunk behind the wheel that dies, it's some innocent person (or people) who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Unfortunately, this won't be a lesson to anyone else who might drive drunk... they always think it won't happen to them. So go get 'em!
I for one don't wonder at all. I've had experiences I've probably shared too often that lead me to wonder whether the appropriate penalty for DUI oughtn't be summary execution right at the side of the road by the responding officer. And this coming from somebody who doesn't generally trust the police as an institution. (I will say that most of my recent experiences with individual cops have been entirely professional and as pain-free as is reasonable to expect, in case you might think I'm some cop-hating loonie.)
But for the drunks out there gunning for the rest of us going about our peaceful business? Go get 'em.
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