By Forum Staff
A team of City Police Department personnel recently helped save the life of a distraught Queens man who was threatening to kill himself.
On Tuesday, March 8, around 8 a.m., a call came over the radio for a suicidal male on the ledge of an apartment roof in Briarwood section. According to NYPD officials, Patrol and Strategic Response Group officers secured the area while a request was made for the Emergency Service Unit and the Hostage Negotiation Team.
After developing a communication strategy, HNGT and ESU officers made repeated attempts to engage the distressed man in conversation. Often when a person is contemplating suicide, he or she feels alone, hopeless and that taking their life is their only option. While this was happening, an airbag was being set up while a second one was escorted to the scene by NYPD Highway patrol officers. Additional HNT negotiators were on the scene trying to gather information on the man by talking with neighbors and on-lookers, according to authorities.
In addition to the cold and windy weather, a steady rain began to fall. In attempts to engage the man and establish rapport with him, officers offered the man a blanket as well as water. Nearly two hours passed and although the man did not engage the officers in conversation, this type of “stalling for time” allowed the officers to slowly get closer to him, officials noted. Eventually ESU officers were able to grab onto the man and bring him safely back from the edge. He was transported to the hospital to be evaluated and receive care.
