Monroe Police Lt. Brian McCauley saw a lot when he used to work the 4 to midnight shift. He remembers spending Memorial Day in an emergency room because a girl who mixed drugs with alcohol wound up in a pond, and the heartbreak of telling a woman he knew that her son died in a car accident.
"When I knocked on the door, this kid's mother saw me standing there and she collapsed," McCauley told a young group from the Stratford Police Department's Explorer Post gathered at St. Vincent's Medical Center last Thursday.
McCauley's talk was part of the hospital's Teen Education on Drinking and Driving (TEDD) program.
Aside from the most extreme dangers posed by substance abuse, drunken driving and distracted driving, McCauley shared some of the less serious, but still harsh consequences.
"What's going to happen if you get caught having an accident because you were drinking," McCauley asked. "You will be arrested and your name will be in the paper. When you're trying to get into a college it may pop up in your record.
"Later, when you apply for a competitive job, they will do a background check. The DUI says you're an idiot and you make bad choices."
"Sky high" insurance will also stay with you, according to McCauley. "It's always going to stay with you — Your parents' embarrassment and the cost of insurance."
A more serious accident can lead to lawsuits and medical costs piling up, according to McCauley.
"Your parents may have to take a second job, lose their house insurance and your college fund can be spent on lawyers and doctors," he said.
McCauley also discussed the "host law" in Connecticut in which homeowners can be fined if they or their children serve alcohol to minors. And parents are held liable if a guest leaves drunk and is later involved in a car crash.
"I don't make this stuff up folks," McCauley said. "In 26 years I've seen bad decisions."
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