It was a Sunday night, late in May, about 9 p.m. Lloyd Town Police officers Jeffrey Cohen and James Wohlrab received a 911 call stating that there was a “male walking on the (Mid-Hudson) bridge, covering his eyes.”
Wohlrab and Cohen rushed to the scene for a “well-check.” They found things were not well at all. An emotional 46-year-old man was on the bridge, crouched and hiding from the Poughkeepsie police, who were also looking for him. Upon the Lloyd pair’s arrival, the hiding man’s demeanor immediately shifted from terrified to agitated, especially when Cohen slowly moved closer to the man, who was by the bridge’s railing, not far from a deadly plunge into the Hudson. The man told the police that he was thinking about killing himself before the police showed up. Now that they were here, he was definitely going to do it.
Something had to be done. “I started talking to him while (Cohen) was positioning himself climbing over the guardrail to where the man was,” said Wohlrab. “(Cohen was) putting his own life in jeopardy because he could take (Cohen) with him. The man was saying things about police. I asked him why he hated police officers, and he said that he had sought help and he wasn’t getting it. I said, ‘That’s what we’re here for.’”
Cohen continued to secure a position between the man and the railing. “The longer we talked, the more confidence he gained in us. I said, ‘Why don’t you tell us what’s going on? What kind of help are you looking for?’” said Wohlrab.
The man began to protest to the proximity of Cohen, who refused to budge, and then demanded that Wohlrab step back. Wohlrab explained in gentle tones that he was concerned about the man’s safety and that the traffic prevented him from stepping back. “Why don’t we talk?” Wohlrab suggested.
The man refused to go to St. Francis, to which Cohen suggested a hospital in Kingston, and the troubled man agreed. Within moments, the man offered the men his wrists to be cuffed, but the two officers refused, still concerned that he was too close to the edge. “By not placing the cuffs on him, he could see that we cared and we weren’t going to arrest him.” Wohlrab said. Shortly thereafter, the man was placed in handcuffs and into the back of the car. The whole scene was resolved within 15 minutes of the officers’ arrival and an emotionally distraught man just moments from ending it all was on the way to getting some help.
A part of the police officer’s job
Cohen, a part-time Lloyd officer of only one-and-a-half years, has seen differing versions of mental health calls. In the very first hour of Cohen’s very first call on his very first day, Cohen was summoned to the scene of a suicide with a rifle. Though the scene was gruesome enough to drive some men to clock out forever, Cohen looked forward to his second day of work with the same enthusiasm he felt for his first.
Cohen said that he handles each call differently. “I tell them to try and think about their family if they are in the area. I try and help them solve their problem. I tell them nothing is worth killing themselves over.” Cohen does not ever tell them about his very first call because “it would give them permission. I try to keep it as upbeat as possible … I like to keep the conversation light, and stay away from anything negative. Make them think about things worth living for.”
Wohlrab, a 25-year veteran of the state Department of Corrections at Green Haven, has been a police officer for five years and a Lloyd officer for one. Wohlrab said that he has seen three or four suicide scenes – mostly hangings – by prisoners. Wohlrab even reported seeing one man slice his neck open. “You try and stay away from the gory stuff. You try and stay on the humorous side,” he said. “It’s like how (Cohen) always says that if you take this job too seriously you’re going to have a short career.”
Sgt. James Janso said that these calls are more common than one might think. His department receives two to four mental health calls a month from Ulster County’s emergency 911: mental health clinics, ambulance services, people calling to report it, or people even calling for help themselves.
The New York State Bridge Authority has implemented a comprehensive suicide prevention plan in conjunction with local, state and national suicide prevention experts, said Bridge Authority spokesman John Bellucci.
“Suicides from bridges are, while thankfully rare, an extremely public and tragic event. The impact goes far beyond the individual involved and their family,” said Bellucci. “Under the direction of the Bridge Authority, the project includes components of public awareness and education, implementation of a system of phones allowing for a direct link between a suicidal individual and a mental health crisis counselor via the National Lifeline Network (1-800-273-TALK (8255)) and coordination between mental health services, law enforcement, emergency services and the Bridge Authority.”