Share Tweet By Billy Hallowell Editor
October 24, 2023
Dramatic bodycam footage showing a New York Police Department officer pleading with a man not to commit suicide shows the emotional toll cops often face in the field.
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NYPD Officer Carl Fayette’s body camera captured his attempts alongside fellow Officer Eleodoro Mata Oct. 5 to very literally talk the man off the ledge.
“Police Officers Fayette and Mata responded to a suicidal male who wanted to jump from an overpass,” NYPD 26th Precinct wrote in an X post. “They spoke to the man with genuine empathy to let him know they cared and that help was available.”
Police Officers Fayette and Mata responded to a suicidal male who wanted to jump from an overpass.
They spoke to the man with genuine empathy to let him know they cared and that help was available, & with the assistance of our @NYPDSpecialops, they got him help.
Amazing work! pic.twitter.com/6Gw0PsAEX5— NYPD 26th Precinct (@NYPD26Pct) October 11, 2023
Fortunately, the 40-minute quest succeeded, with the NYPD 26th Precinct thanking its officers for “amazing work” saving the man’s life.
Bodycam footage shows various moments from the nail-biting encounter on the bridge.
“I believe … you’re a good man,” Fayette told the man during the ordeal. “You’re a good man. I promise you, brother I promise you we will do anything in our power to help you.”
The officer also said he, too, has been in the man’s shoes and knows how he feels.
“It’s not worth it,” Fayette said. “Life is beautiful.”
And while Fayette remained calm and collected during his pleadings with the man, a stunning moment unfolded once the suicidal man was brought to safety.
Fayette broke down in tears, with other emergency workers comforting him. The moment shows how such high-stress situations impact cops even when those officers appear unimpacted in the moment.
Watch it all unfold:
Stephanie Samuels, a psychotherapist who works with police officers through her nonprofit organization Copline, told WNYW-TV she sees the emotional toll cops routinely face.
“These are human beings that every day do a job, that we make them not human,” she said, praising Fayette and his fellow officer. “What I really saw was an officer that had connected with somebody was absolutely relieved that it worked out the way it did and kind of an emotional dump that I think many of us have experienced in our own lives after a situation is resolved and resolved well.”
Read more about the story here.
Pray for the man on the bridge and the officers as they navigate the wake of the harrowing situation.
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