Winter 2018
MADD About Florida Law Enforcement Executive Director Larry Coggins, Jr., MADD West Central Florida
Almost thirty-eight short years ago in the aftermath of a horrific fatal crash that killed 13 year old Cari Lightner in California due to a three-time repeat drunk driver who was out of jail just two days from his 4th DUI arrest, Mothers Against Drunk Driving was born on a kitchen table as a grass roots effort to bring awareness of DUI related crashes, change the laws related to these offenses, and provide assistance to the victims of these crashes, that at the time, were not considered crimes in many jurisdictions across the United States. Back then, our nation’s annual fatality rate due to drunk driving held steady at over 25,000. Shortly after the crash that claimed Cari’s life, 5 month old Laura Lamb was riding in a car that was hit by a repeat DUI offender. Laura became America’s youngest quadri- plegic ever, all because of a drunk driver. Cari became the first ever face of drunk driving victims and Laura the first face of a drunk driving injured victims in the United States of America.
As a rookie Florida State Trooper, I had cleared the scene of a double fatal crash in Polk County, where a drunk driver had crossed the center of the road and collided head on with an oncoming vehicle, killing both occupants of this vehi- cle. As I knocked on the front door of the address on record for the deceased, the uneasy feeling that all cops know way too well when making a death notification set in, and I was met by 3 children, the oldest was about 14, as it dawned on me I was looking at orphans for it was their parents who were killed. The only place I knew to turn to was MADD, who provided assistance to them and their grandparents from that point on. This one horrific and violent crime left a family devastated and had a profound impact on my law enforcement career and the direction that I wanted to take in prevent these crashes.
Today I am the first Florida law enforcement officer to hold the Executive Director role at MADD. With almost twenty- five years in law enforcement, all of it in traffic, I, like all traffic cops across Florida, recognize that more people are killed in Florida in traffic crashes than by all the other weapons of choice combined. On top of that, impairment plays a major role in these crashes. While 2017 data will not be available for some time, the trends over the past few years indicate that over 3,000 people die annually in Florida as a result of a traffic crash and close to a third of those will be a result of an impaired driver. Think about that for a moment; almost 1,000 of our friends and family, neighbors and col- leagues, and even law enforcement officers are gone in an instant because of an impaired driver. As law enforcement officials, you and I both know that if people were being killed in your jurisdiction by guns and knives at the same rate as they are being killed by drunk drivers, you would be out of a job.
Outstanding Command Officer of the Year
Coming into a leadership role in the Nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated solely to putting an end to drunk driving, I knew that MADD already had a presence in the law enforcement community and had experienced it first hand over my career. It is critical now more than ever that MADD continues to provide support and assistance to our law enforcement officers in MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving. In Florida, MADD’s regional recognition events not only recognizes the hard work of the officers, but recognizes other first responders, community volunteers, and prosecutors as well. MADD in Florida has for the past 10 years provided a training component to the annual State Law Enforcement Recognition event allowing DUI officers an opportunity to receive training updates, refreshers, and certifi- cations, at no cost to the agency or the tax payers. This annual event has grown from a luncheon in Tallahassee and picture of Florida’s Top DUI Officers on the Capitol steps to a two day event that is a must for our dedicated DUI en- forcement units across the state.
President’s Award
With a seasoned law enforcement officer in the leadership ranks at MADD, our ability to be a watchdog for the com- munity is now stronger than ever. MADD is able to provide support and guidance to law enforcement and prosecutors in the trenches and in the court room. Our ability to facilitate training for these groups is now better than ever as we have partnered with the Florida Department of Transportation’s State Safety Office and the Florida Traffic Safety Re- source Prosecutor program. MADD holds an important role in Florida’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan, is a member of
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