Responsibility comes with each alcoholic drink

Pull up a chair. What are you drinking? What’s that? Sorry, didn’t catch that. Funny isn’t it? I’m not a gambler, but I bet most readers were thinking about a fermented beverage. With the proliferation of commercials, billboards and in-store advertising, how could we not be thinking of booze?

By no means is this a crusade against responsible consumption; it’s about the responsibility of alcohol ingestion. In reflection, it matters not which research statistic you find. The Centers for Disease Control, Mothers Against Drunk Driving or the National Center for Biotechnology all report the same statistics. Alcohol is the third leading cause of preventable death in our country.

According to MADD, 10,332 people were killed in 2012 because of alcohol-related crashes (a 5 percent increase from 2011) and about 345,000 were injured because of drunken driving. That’s one death every 51 minutes. These numbers may not mean a whole bunch to some — until they or someone in their family becomes part of the tally.

With the Fourth of July around the corner I’d like for people to know in the past decade, the Fourth and its weekend are the deadliest alcohol-related holiday in America. Responsible imbibing doesn’t only pertain to driving; it also has to do with your actions and family.

You ready? Let’s, move on out! “Control, 269, we’ll be in service.”

June 8. A caller reports a family member is threatening suicide with a machete on Arizona Street. Officers arrive and learn the subject left in a vehicle. We find the car and the machete-wielding subject. After a few tense moments, the subject is taken into protective custody and taken to a hospital for evaluation. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

June 9. Henderson Police Department calls regarding four juveniles who are at St. Rose Hospital with burns to their faces. The children said it happened during a bonfire. They advise the kids were burned at the dry lake bed in Boulder City. After some GPS assistance, we learn it was actually in Henderson’s jurisdiction. One more thing, do not forget the dry lake bed will be closed for the Fourth.

June 10. Two neighbors on Elm Street had a disagreement. One of them had a little less patience and understanding for the other. The alpha male used his masculinity and asserted his supposed authority and punched the other subject. We show up, and now the victim does not want to press charges. Folks, try to communicate, not create a bona fide boxing competition.

June 11. A driver calls to report a theft. The subject reports parking his truck in front of the high school and then walking down the street to his house. About a half-hour later he returned to get the truck but it had been stolen. The owner had both sets of keys but left his wallet in the truck. The 2001 GMC was entered in the database as stolen.

June 12. Officers are dispatched to a child floating in a pool. We arrive and a neighbor had already begun CPR. The child was breathing and taken to the hospital. If it wasn’t for this neighbor, this could have been a complete tragedy. Mr. Neighbor, thank you. You saved this toddler’s life!

June 13. Officer responds to a disturbance near Monterey Drive. Once we show up the extremely belligerent intoxicated guest purposefully lets the dog out of the house and destroyed the interior of the home. Out comes the handcuffs and away she goes for a several-day rehabilitation treatment.

June 14. A juvenile sends a cry-for-help text. Dispatch receives a call about the text. Officers respond to the residents in the Del Prado area and find the subject is OK. The text was sent out of frustration. Texting, writing or speaking can sometimes be taken out of context. I’m thankful all parties involved were OK.

Can you say total immersion? It’s been one heck of a week at work. Two Metropolitan Police Department officers murdered, one Henderson officer shot and a Boulder City juvenile almost drowns. The uniqueness of our profession does not allow for that casualness of carelessness. Protect and serve! It’s not just our job; it’s our humble honor.

Officer Jeffrey Grasso is a 10-year veteran of the Boulder City Police Department. He previously served as a police officer in south Florida for four years.