Community Corner

Norfolk County Launches 'BE A HERO' Campaign Against Drunk Driving

Police chiefs and businesses across the area joined Norfolk County District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey at Patriot Place last week to launch the HERO campaign.

The following is a press release issued by the Norfolk County District Attorney's office.

Norfolk District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey was joined by more than half of his county’s police chiefs at Patriot Place on Nov. 2 to launch the "Be A Norfolk County Hero" designated driver campaign with Bill and Muriel Elliott, who lost their son to a drunk driver.

The Elliotts founded the Ensign John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers in 2003 after their son was killed by a drunk driver as he headed home to celebrate his mother’s birthday in 2000. John had just graduated from the United States Naval Academy and was set to train as a naval flight officer.

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The District Attorney financed an alcohol server training session last Friday that drew more than 60 owners and managers from establishments across Norfolk County, including several from Foxborough, at Showcase Live at Patriot Place.

At the close of the training, the Elliotts talked to the crowd about their son, his death, and the campaign that carries his name.

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“Instead of cursing the darkness, we wanted to make a difference,” Bill Elliott said. “We want to make use of a designated driver as automatic as using a seatbelt.”

Said Muriel Elliott: “The message we are sending to the public is that you are a hero when you save someone’s life.”

The drunk driver who killed their son had been arrested earlier in the day and bailed out by a friend, the Elliotts said. Rather than drive him all the way home from the police station, that friend dropped him off where his vehicle had been left so that he could drive again. Less than an hour later, John was dead.

The Elliotts live in the Atlantic City, N.J. area, and more than 150 Jersey Shore bars currently participate in the program, which has bar managers or servers asking groups of patrons “Who is going to be the HERO tonight,” then offering a BE A HERO wristband and a free soft drink to whoever volunteers to be the designated sober driver for the group.

“The only cost to the establishment is to display a poster or a sticker for the campaign and maybe to serve a free soft drink,” Mr. Elliott said.

NFL stadiums, including Gillette Stadium, have also joined the program

District Attorney Morrissey said there were more than 60 drunk driving fatalities and serious bodily injuries in Norfolk County last year. “One is too many, and we had more than one a week,” Morrissey said. “We are trying to lower those numbers, both working with those who serve alcohol and joining the Elliotts in their work targeting those who consume it.”

District Attorney Morrissey added every establishment at Patriot Place that serves liquor has joined the HERO campaign.

“This season, the Patriots set the high water mark for the number of designated drivers at their home games," There are a good number of HEROS already in Norfolk County, and we hope that this initiative will build their numbers as it decreases the number of drunk drivers.”

Foxborough businesses that participated in Nov. 2 Alcohol Service Training:

  • CBS Scene, Patriot Place
  • Patriots Place Management
  • Lakeview Pavilion
  • Red Robin, Patriot Place
  • Toby Keith’s, Patriot Place
  • Blue Fin Lounge, Patriot Place

Other businesses around Norfolk County that participated in the Alcohol Service Training:

  • Halfway Café, Dedham
  • Auld Sod Pub, Dedham
  • Big Jim’s Liquor, Avon
  • Saphire Event Group, Sharon
  • Jake & Joe’s, Norwood
  • Oishii, Chestnut Hill
  • Concannon’s Village, Norwood
  • Quincy Jade, Quincy
  • Irish Cultural Centre, Canton
  • Showcase Cinemas, Randolph
  • Showcase Cinemas, Legacy Place
  • Lewis’ Bar & Grille, Norwood
  • Workmen’s Hall of Norwood, Norwood
  • PHO Countryside, Quincy
  • Kings, Dedham
  • Olde Colonial Café, Norwood
  • Tedeschi’s # 339, Squantum, North Quincy
  • Brookmeadow Country Club, Canton
  • The Lodge Bar, Randolph
  • Plainridge Racecourse, Plainville
  • VFW Post 2017, Dedham
  • Midway Restaurant, Dedham
  • BayState Wine & Spirits, Norwood
  • O’Donnell’s, Randolph


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