I seem to pull this old letter out every year at this time, but nothing has changed and the bottom line is the same today as it was in 1995. I hope some of our readers get the message, and if just one person remembers these words, then it was worth my time.
In 1995 I read a letter to Dear Abby from a South Carolina state trooper entitled, “How to make a State Trooper Cry.” It got me to thinking, and I wrote down some of my thoughts. I recently came across those notes and feel they are just as pertinent today. I would like to share them with you now.
I started thinking about the holiday season and all the families that will be taking to the roads to go to all the parties and family get-togethers. And with that comes all of the drinking and driving that will occur at this time of year.
I retired from the Long Beach Police Department about this time 15 years ago. I had been working the accident investigation detail (AID). I knew that one of the detectives from that office will be on call and will be the one called out in the middle of the night to go to a fatality accident when it occurs. He, and the uniform patrol officers dispatched to the scene, must deal with the broken glass, twisted metal and shattered lives of those left behind. They must call the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office to pick up what’s left of someone’s loved one.
Then they must investigate the accident, first at the scene where they deal with the physical evidence, the witnesses’ statements and grieving family members. Then to the hospital to deal with any survivors. Finally, they get to go home, get back in bed and try not to think about what just happened. Good trick if you can do it; sleep is difficult in coming, if it does at all.
The next morning they go back to work and try to put all of the pieces together. If the accident included a drunk driver, as so many of them at this time of year do, they must put the case together and present it to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for a criminal complaint against the defendant for felony drunk driving and/or vehicular manslaughter, or worse. Another family torn apart by the same accident. The driver may go to state prison for three to 25 years, depending on what the conviction is for.
I’m writing this commentary out of pure remembrance. Those detectives and patrol officers want to enjoy this holiday season with their families, not with the families of those killed or maimed by an irresponsible drunk driver.
This is the season for giving. So, give the other drivers on the road and their families, yourself and your loved ones, a special gift this year…don’t drink and drive!
