Drink-drive officer's mates just as guilty

When a customer looked as if he was going to drive home after having too many a few weeks ago, some of his fellow drinkers at one of my locals stopped him, threw sufficent coins and paper money on the leaner, told him to not be so stupid and sent him home in a cab.

They obviously knew he had a job that depended on his licence and decided to exercise more sense than he was, possibly saving his livelihood and more importantly possibly saving someone's life.

It's a pity that Detective Sergeant John Gualter - who was caught driving while at two-and-a-half times the legal limit for alcohol - doesn't have mates like that, or even a host with some sense of being a responsible host.

The thing is, police bars like the one in which he became sozzled don't need a licence, which means they can't lose one, either. Ergo, there's no reason to be a responsible host as no appropriate punishment can be meted out.

But there's no reason why his colleagues couldn't have taken him to one side, deprived him of his keys and taken him home, or at least ordered him a cab.

Detective Sergeant John Gualter is even more of a role model than ordinary cops, because he is an instructor at the National Police College in Porirua and I hear he was the one who was able to persuade Steven Williams to come clean on the murder of dear Coral Burrows.

The police say that the college has banned drinking games and beer jugs in the bar in which Gualter was drinking, and a spokesman rather tritely says that "ultimately it is the individual's responsibility to determine whether they should drive after consuming alcohol".

The trouble is, those who wouldn't dream of driving after having a couple of pints suddenly change attitude when they've a few more on board.

That's where the mates around the leaner at our tavern came in. They saw that their normally pretty responsible mate had stayed longer than usual, had turned from sensible to stupid and was about to put his job and possibly lives on the line.

That's why, while I have huge sympathy for DS Gualter with his career ruined by a stupid night on the tiles, I can't help thinking that there must have been fellow officers on hand that night who could have stopped him.

If there were and they didn't, I hope that a police inquiry is set up to see why those present didn't recognise the possible destruction of an obviously top-notch officer's career.

OK, not every cop is the mate of another, and rumours abound about higher ranks being reported to patrols when one is known to be driving with a drop on board, but maliciously doing nothing when an officer like Gualter is going into self-destruct mode is unforgivable.

If Gualter loses his job, as he surely must, by long established rules, I hope that officers known to be present during the commission of his crime should at least have their promotion schedule halted for a while.

By not helping a fellow officer in an obvious time of need, they were derelict in their duties as police officers - even if they were off duty.

Heaven knows, we need people like Gualter.

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AT   #1   09:57 am Sep 09 2009

Whilst I agree that individuals ultimately make their own decisions, I also wholeheartedly agree that sometimes you need to help them come to the right decision - especially if they've had more than a few and logic isn't working so well anymore.

At teenage parties we regularly confiscated keys off our mates who were attempting to make the stupid decision to drive drunk - and whilst they were usually a little agro at the time they saw the wisdom in the light of day. If a group of 17 year olds could do that (let's not pretend teenagers don't drink - we did, well before the legal age was lowered to 18) then why can't a group of supposedly responsible adults?

Louisette   #2   10:42 am Sep 09 2009

This is a great blog. It's easy to forget that when someone drink-drives there are often a couple of people who could have prevented it. We all know that alcohol impairs people's ability to make good decisions, and we've all seen guys who were convinced they were OK to drive but obviously weren't. That's when real mates talk some sense into them, or take their keys away. Sure, some guys do get aggro about it and it can be very difficult, but you can at least try.

Min   #3   02:47 pm Sep 09 2009

I have no time at all for drunk drivers having known someone vaguely who killed a pregnant woman whilst driving drunk...and don't think he learnt from this because he didn't.. However maybe if the pub he was drinking had consisted of some half decent people they may of stopped him.. ?? Who knows. My mates will NEVER let anyone drive drunk EVER. Even if they are drunk they will not let anyone do it. My mates have never tried to either though. You have to try to stop someone..

Rachael   #4   09:38 pm Sep 09 2009

We never had the risk of our friends driving drunk, we walked everywhere so there wasn't a risk at all. Good on the leaners mates.

Les+   #5   05:46 pm Sep 10 2009

So we have police bars operating without or outside a code of conduct, and at level well below that of licensed premises which they can be called to act upon. They allow a behaviour which in contrary to the advertisements that they support. They allow a colleague to endanger the public on our roads (and probably our footpaths). Sounds like a jobs for their Minister and padre along with a need to increase the Police drinking age to 50

Rose   #6   12:25 pm Sep 11 2009

I think one of the reports mentioned this bar did in fact have a liquor license, and now realised they should actually stick to it... Shame they didn't think of that beforehand!

dale   #7   09:12 am Oct 23 2009

man some people just dont know how to drink and drive, i been doin it for years and never been caught.

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