Community Support
Is Drinking
Making Your
Life Worse?
BY JERRY
Out of respect, Jerry ' s last name will remain anonymous.
7714
Have you ever decided to stop drinking for a week or so, but you only lasted for a couple of days?
Do you wish people would mind their own business about your drinking and stop telling you what to do?
Have you ever switched from one kind of drink to another in the hope that this would keep you from getting drunk?
Do you envy people who drink without getting in trouble?
Have you had problems connected with drinking during the past year?
Has your drinking caused trouble at home?
Do you ever try to get extra drinks at a party because you did not get enough?
Do you tell yourself you can stop drinking any time you want to, even though you keep getting drunk when you don’ t mean to?
Have you missed days of work because of drinking?
Do you have blackouts( i. e., not remembering what happened after drinking)?
Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you did not drink?
The above questions are from the“ Is A. A. For You?” pamphlet published by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, New York, New York.
The following are some additional questions to ask yourself regarding alcohol:
Do you isolate when you drink? Do you defend your drinking? Does your life center around drinking? Are you ashamed of your drinking?
Do you try to conceal or minimize how much you drink?
Do you feel as if you have to drink so as not to get sick?
Did you answer yes four or more times to these questions? If so, you are probably in trouble with alcohol. We have a group of law enforcement officers, both currently employed and retired, who meet regularly to discuss our alcohol problems. We do not list the location, time, or day of our meeting. It is by personal invitation only. Our meeting is confidential and anonymous. We will be glad to show you how we stopped drinking ourselves. Just call us: Jerry( 602) 904-1088; Dan( 602) 413-4558; or Mark( 623) 377-3342
About Jerry Served law enforcement for 35 years. Hired 1 / 15 / 73. Retired 1 / 31 / 08. Worked patrol, information desk, Community Relations Bureau, and detectives. Promoted to Sergeant on 7 / 7 / 97. Worked GIB Desk for 10 months. Then became ROP Sergeant and ran that program his last decade in the Department. Unit was transferred from GIB to HIDTA in 2003. Was given the DEB Court Liaison Detail to supervise in addition to ROP.
That’ s pretty much my whole career. I quit drinking in 1983 with 10 years in the Department, before I got into any major trouble. It was just a matter of time before I would have gotten caught committing alcoholrelated crimes that all drunks commit. I was one of the lucky ones. Getting sober turned my life and career around. I broke my anonymity with the Department in 1989. Chief Garrett’ s administration had me intervene a lot with alcoholics in the Department. On February 24th, I will have 40 years without a drink. Life is a lot better sober. You don’ t have to keep looking behind you to see who’ s chasing you.
13 • AZPLEA. COM