Join the campaign to ELIMINATE drunk driving!

It brings me great sadness to announce that a former co-worker, and dedicated Mesa Police Department Officer, Brandon Mendoza, passed away this week as the result of a drunk driver. To honor his service and memory, I feel it is necessary to educate the public on the dangers and severity of impaired driving. According to MADD (Mother's Against Drunk Driving) on average, one in three people will be involved in a drunk driving crash in their lifetime. As a result, for the last seven years, MADD has campaigned to ELIMINATE drunk driving by focusing on three steps:
Support our heroes. Support high-visibility law enforcement to catch drunk drivers and discourage others from driving drunk.
Sober to start. Require ignition interlock devices, or in-car breathalyzers, for all drunk drivers, to prove they are sober before their car will start.
Secure the future. Support the development of technology to determine automatically whether or not the driver is above the legal limit of .08 and failing to operate if the driver is drunk.
excerpts from MADD website

How can you prevent drunk driving? NEVER get behind the wheel impaired and NEVER let someone who has been drinking drive. MADD offers these helpful tips:
Be as non-confrontational as possible.
Suggest alternate ways of getting to their destination — a cab, a sober driver, public transportation.
Remember that the person you are talking to is impaired — talk a bit more slowly and explain things more fully than if you were speaking to a sober person. Explain that you don’t want them to drive because you care and you don’t want them to hurt themselves or others. Suggest that they sleep over. Enlist a friend to help you or to act as moral support — it’s more difficult to say “no” to two (or three or four) people than one. If possible, get the person’s keys. It is far easier to persuade the potential driver when you hold this leverage.
If all else fails, call law enforcement. It’s better to have a friend arrested than injured or killed.

In addition to prevention, MADD offers support and education to victims of drunk driving.
MADD Hotline for crisis counseling and resources 877-MADD-HELP.
MADD also recognizes that victims of this tragedy need to know and understand their rights. To learn more visit http://www.madd.org/victim-services/victim-rights/victims-rights.html

Join the efforts to keep our roadways safe from impaired drivers and educate our young drivers.
Visit http://www.madd.org/drunk-driving/ for more information and prevention material.

In memory of Sgt. Brandon Mendoza. Thank you for your service and keeping our communities safe! Rest in Peace.

Comments

How to be the best version of yourself?

Have you ever asked yourself: Am I living my life to the fullest? Are there things about myself or life that I would like to change? These are all self-evaluation questions that are worthy of your attention; especially if you are feeling lack or uncertainty in your life. I definitely asked these questions a few years ago because, I was feeling very unfulfilled in my life and struggling to understand my place. Many times, as human beings living in the moment and as a coping mechanism, we put on a mask and pretend to be okay but hurting on the inside. Life requires balance and recognizing an imbalance is the beginning to discovering your full potential. Being the best version of yourself means being the authentic, "YOU." A trick to understanding your authentic self requires honesty about the things you are currently doing in your life that are creating unhappiness, uncertainty, negativity etc. You have to reflect on your shadow side (negative characteristics about your persona...

Exploiting Wellness: Exposing the wellness industry frauds.

*This post was written 6 months ago* The global wellness market is valued at over 4.75 trillion (wellnesscreative.com 2022 statistics). There is a demand for self-improvement, homeopathic or alternative ways to achieve better health or mindset. Where there is a need, there are always people waiting to exploit people's desperation to look and feel better. I believe that most people have great intentions to help others achieve their highest potential; however, we have to be mindful of those that don't. I am not a consumer advocate but, if a sell is too good to be true and people promise you the world and total transformation, I'd run for the hills. That’s a huge indication of fraud. What concerns me about the wellness industry is that some of these organizations are cult-like and require you to be a part of a controlling following. At this point, your chances of becoming victimized either financially, emotionally, or physically becomes a given. My dear friend, who works for ...

The performance of being "nice"..

Today, I am going to give a brief tutorial on being "kind" vs. being "nice". I want people to consider the fact that being "nice" isn't good enough. I grew up with knowing there is a huge difference between nice and being a kind person. Being, "Kind" is the ideal way to conduct yourself. To me, kindness is about connections; making positive connections with people with the idea of being genuine and thoughtful. Kindness involves vulnerability. However, some people have trouble with authenticity and being vulnerable. We live in a society of immediate gratification, fake people, insecurity, and false expectations and desires. People choose to align with what is easy instead of what is right! For this reason, people choose to be, "nice". Being "nice" is not enough. There is complexity to these terms. So let's talk about the differences between being, "nice" and "kind". Nice is a social mask that people...

The Victim Assistant 🐼

Search This Blog