Two California Highway Patrol officers are being praised for talking down a woman who may have planned to jump off a San Francisco bridge.
"On February 10, 2016, CHP San Francisco area motorcycle Officers Jeremy Maya and Dustin Ribergaard responded to a call of a possibly suicidal female subject who had climbed over the railing of the eastern span of the Bay Bridge," the CHP said in a Facebook post. "Upon arriving at the location given, they confirmed with CHP dispatch there was a party sitting on the ledge of the bridge, ready to jump over the side."
The department said both officers tried to speak to the woman.
"I took a moment to step back from the officer role and kind of stepped into a personal role, trying to connect to her personally, as a friend," Ribergaard said.
But the woman was not responding.
So Maya, specially trained in crisis intervention, borrowed a tow strap from nearby tow truck to tether himself to the bridge and climbed over the bridge railing to speak more closely with the woman.
"I focused in on her son, got her talking about her son, just tried to empathize with her," Maya told KTVU. "I tried to put myself in that situation and think what if this was potentially a relative of mine."
Maya said he was able to have that conversation with the woman after he asked her if he could sit with her.
"I actually asked her to hold my hand," Maya said. "From there, we progressed to, 'Can you slide back a little more?' and then eventually to a standing position."
The woman decided not to jump and was taken to a nearby hospital for a mental health evaluation.
"We are extremely proud of our officers for risking their lives and for saving a life," the department said. "All CHP officers receive on-going CIT training for situations exactly like this."
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