# Cops and Alcohol



## True Blue Flu (Jan 7, 2012)

Check out our website: www.trueblueflu.com


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## trueblue (Jan 21, 2008)

Trueblueflu? WTF?


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2012)

Something tells me this poll won't be a big hit...


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2012)

right.as.rain said:


> Something tells me this poll won't be a big hit...


With the results publicly revealed, is it any wonder?


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## LGriffin (Apr 2, 2009)

I resent the implication. Did you ask this on massaccountants or massprofessors.com?


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## True Blue Flu (Jan 7, 2012)

There is no implication. We were founded by a Cop that resigned after a DUI. We are a peer support network that works with CISM teams. If you read our site, you would know that.

But, if you want to just throw around insults, that's fine too.


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## trueblue (Jan 21, 2008)

I did go to your website and read that you were a "former Sargent" on a PD. I'm sure you will understand the instant negative reaction to anyone who comes onto this site and wants to know something personal about the members or the people we work with. We are told that as a profession we are drinking too much, sleeping too little, angry, depressed, racist, sexist, violent, too conservative, robots, don't wear our covers enough, and in it for the money only. Just look at some of the posts here....I come here to have a few laughs, learn a few things, voice my opinion and say hello to everyone. I'm sure everyone here can agree you probably are trying to do good things for people who need help. But you started out on a bad note sounding like a reporter from the Globe...no insult intended.


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## Kilvinsky (Jan 15, 2007)

I have no problem. I enjoy what I enjoy but do not allow alcohol to control me, I control it. Now, with that said, I have to throw up then pass out. Thank God I can sleep before I go to work as a nerea....newro......a really important sturgeon!


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## Deuce (Sep 27, 2003)

Alcohol? Yes please!


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## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

USMCMP5811 said:


> I drink, I get drunk, I fall down. No problem....
> 
> One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor......


Sung to the theme song for the Banana Splits show.


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## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

Showing our age? I swear I'm only 25.


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## Tuna (Jun 1, 2006)

No problem with booze. I find it, I drink it, I sleep it off. No problem


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## lofu (Feb 25, 2006)

I work with almost 200 people. I'm sure at least one has a drinking problem. Although if you took 200 people from any profession, youd prob find a few with a problem.


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## justanotherparatrooper (Aug 27, 2006)




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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)




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## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

I'm not really sure if it's the squirrel I like or the half bottle of wine I just had. Eh, let's just go with the squirrel.


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2012)

lofu said:


> I work with almost 200 people. I'm sure at least one has a drinking problem. Although if you took 200 people from any profession, youd prob find a few with a problem.


Police officers are especially susceptible to alcohol issues due to the easy availability & social acceptance of alcohol, the macho attitude of their co-workers (peer pressure to go to choir practice), and its use in self-medicating for depression, anxiety, nightmares, and flashbacks.

I read a journal article that looked at a medium-sized police department where over 50% of the patrol force tested positive for alcohol problems on the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST);

http://primarycareforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Michigan-Alcohol-Screening1.pdf

I remember going to midnight roll calls when I first got on, and the guard room smelled like a gin mill. That's not an issue anymore, but problems with alcohol are, they're just hidden better these days.


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## 263FPD (Oct 29, 2004)

I don't really see a point in participating in this poll. Clearly, it isn't just a problem within the Police community. Alcoholism exists in all walks of life. When one of us gets popped for an OUI, it is a very public thing. It makes the news in all sorts of media. Are there cops who have an alcohol problem? Of course there are. Are there alcoholics among Doctors, Teachers, Lawyers, Accountants to name a few? Sure.

There are many who abuse alcohol. Some are smart enough to not take it to work with them and some are not. Like Delta stated, in not so distant past, there were guys showing up for roll call reaking of booze. You really dont see that much any more. There were times when you would conduct an OUI preliminary investigation, and you'd have to tell your back-up guy to go stand someplace else because you really didn't know if the odor of alcoholic beverage was coming from your suspect, or the guy you worked with. Funny thing was, that these guys were quite functional. But hell, I have had my share of OUI arrests where my arestee was walking and talking like a normal, sober person. Well, may be not a very sober person, but they functioned very well other then their driving suffered quite a bit. I would bring them in, and they would consent to the BT. I have seen plenty of men and women whom you would never would guess to blow more then .09 to say .15. Then you get the print out and you would see numbers between .25 to .35 ot even more.

I was never one to drink a lot of alcohol on frequent basis. Do I some times drink socially? Yes, I do. Do I drive after I have had too much? Absolutely not. I would never go to work shit faced, nor do I want to work with someone who is. I am not a fan of your poll, so there for I will not participate in it. This site to me is a place that promotes our field, not demeans it. While we do have to read many negative articles about LE and LEO's, be it in the media or in articles that are linked here, I still do not care to participate in a poll such as this. I can respect what it is you may be trying to accomplish, but since your founder is a former LEO, he no doubt understands that it is not in our nature to volantarily air out dirty laundry. The media is doing a great enough job of it.

That being said, I have seen several Police careers go down the shitter due to substance abuse. It is a cring shame in some of those cases. Some of those guys were true and real Police. I for one, was sad to see them go. At the same time though, it was probably good that they did. The path they were on, would have have eventually came to a very bad end.


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2012)

263FPD said:


> This site to me is a place that promotes our field, not demeans it. While we do have to read many negative articles about LE and LEO's, be it in the media or in articles that are linked here, I still do not care to participate in a poll such as this. I can respect what it is you may be trying to accomplish, but since your founder is a former LEO, he no doubt understands that it is not in our nature to volantarily air out dirty laundry. The media is doing a great enough job of it.


I also did not participate in the poll, since it's no one's business what happens behind the closed doors of my department, except to those of us employed there.

That being said, alcohol abuse among police is a serious problem that should be addressed/dealt with, and sticking our heads in the sand isn't going to change anything. I've noticed that whenever a thread is started here that involves alcohol abuse or suicide in the ranks of police, there is mostly silence or an aggressive counterattack like we're seeing here......almost like if people ignore it, it will never happen to them.

I've lost more than one co-worker or former co-worker to booze, and sometimes I wonder if they might have been saved if we were more willing to address and talk about the problem.


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## lofu (Feb 25, 2006)

263FPD said:


> I don't really see a point in participating in this poll. Clearly, it isn't just a problem within the Police community. Alcoholism exists in all walks of life. When one of us gets popped for an OUI, it is a very public thing. It makes the news in all sorts of media. Are there cops who have an alcohol problem? Of course there are. Are there alcoholics among Doctors, Teachers, Lawyers, Accountants to name a few? Sure.
> 
> There are many who abuse alcohol. Some are smart enough to not take it to work with them and some are not. Like Delta stated, in not so distant past, there were guys showing up for roll call reaking of booze. You really dont see that much any more. There were times when you would conduct an OUI preliminary investigation, and you'd have to tell your back-up guy to go stand someplace else because you really didn't know if the odor of alcoholic beverage was coming from your suspect, or the guy you worked with. Funny thing was, that these guys were quite functional. But hell, I have had my share of OUI arrests where my arestee was walking and talking like a normal, sober person. Well, may be not a very sober person, but they functioned very well other then their driving suffered quite a bit. I would bring them in, and they would consent to the BT. I have seen plenty of men and women whom you would never would guess to blow more then .09 to say .15. Then you get the print out and you would see numbers between .25 to .35 ot even more.
> 
> ...


This is what I was kind of getting at only you said it much better. As far as it being an issue for police departments, I don't disagree I just found the poll to be a "yeah, no shit" type of poll.


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

allot of guys provide many years of good service, but fall into a bottle and never climb back out.

hope the young guys realize this before they try to throw a veteran officer having trouble drinking under the bus.

they might be in that same spot someday.


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