Cops... From the View of a Recovering Addict

By La Hacienda's Cade Saurage

I had the opportunity to sit down and have a long talk with my dear friend Cade Saurage from La Hacienda who at one point in his life and through his addiction was on the other side of the law, now he helps Safe Call Now® save the lives of first responders and is very blessed to do so.

So I pull onto the highway and head down the road, see him sitting in his patrol car as I fly by going 76 in a 70 and then watch as he slowly turns his car around to get behind me. I sit up straight like I did in grade school when my teacher spotted me passing a note. The muscles in my stomach tighten as my ‘anti-cop’ conscious starts firing out the facts…….

“I’m only going 6-miles over the speed limit. Maybe he’s not even coming for me; maybe he is just turning around. Should I exit here and see if he follows me? I can’t afford a ticket right now. I hate defensive driving. My insurance is going to go up. Here he comes. Crap. What an ass. Doesn’t he have crimes to investigate? He must be short on his ticket quota. Isn’t this entrapment?”

And so I slow down to 60 as if 10 miles an hour less will counter the 6 miles an hour I was over. I stare in my rear view and smile while I prep the biggest sob story I can think of settling on the truth since maybe that would be a break from his norm. And he drives on by; doesn’t even look at me. My heart rate starts to drop from 120 and I breathe a sigh of relief. And then I start to think about where I am at today, what I have learned over the past two years through this new divinely-inspired (even ironic) relationship with the first responder community and I thank God, with all of his glory and sense of humor, that He took a young troubled soul stuck in the throes of addiction and misconduct to a life of sobriety, integrity, freedom and happiness beyond measure. And 8 years in, He introduces him to Safe Call Now……..and a community of cops!

9 years ago, the mere sight of a police officer made me cringe because my behavior supported the life of an alcoholic and drug addict and I was no stranger to incarceration. Recovery from addiction softened my heart and a power greater than I brought me to Sean Riley, president of Safe Call Now. And through a series of many more first responder introductions, I quickly learned the horrific details of the challenges officers face putting their lives on the line to protect the freedom that I took for granted for 26 years of my life. More importantly and why I am even in their picture, are the challenges I try to relate to……..those in the mind, the heart, the home, the soul, the allergic reaction to alcohol, they want to celebrate and then they need to stop the pain. When I got sober, I had 1,000 options on how to proceed. The first responders have so very few. My job gave me time off. They even paid for my treatment. First responders get shunned, even fired.

I work for one of the top treatment centers in the country now, La Hacienda Treatment Center in Texas, and I spearhead one of our strongest relationships with the first responder world through Sean and Safe Call Now. My childhood friends get quite a chuckle when I tell them that I am working a room at the FBI National Convention. But, I no longer see it as irony, but rather God’s way of making things right.

So, I’ll still stiffen up when they pull behind me on the highway and possibly drop a profanity when the red and blues light up, but don’t think for a second there’s not a Safe Call Now brochure sitting on my front seat. And rest assured that officer will get a ‘thank you’ and a business card.

God is good!