Every day, first responders are required to make split-second decisions, and sometimes, those decisions can mean the difference between life and death.
Now, the Dallas Police Department is sharing bodycam video of a group of officers’ heroic actions.
Just before 5 a.m. on Christmas Eve, Dallas police were called to a bridge along East Camp Wisdom Road, where officers found a woman experiencing a mental health crisis sitting dangerously close to the edge, high above the S.L.R. Thornton Freeway.
“She’s about to jump,” an officer is heard saying in the body camera footage.
As officers tried to help, the woman suddenly went over the railing, left hanging above the freeway.
Without hesitation, they grabbed her arm, holding on as she dangled in mid-air.
A sergeant arrived, helping the officers pull the woman back over the railing. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.
“One of the things to recognize is just how intense those situations are,” said Dr. Peter Thomas, a psychologist and the vice president of Amplified Minds, which provides free mental health services.
“Most people in situations like this are in a very acute state of being overwhelmed, not necessarily in this fixed ideation that they want to die,” Thomas said.
He said these types of situations are a lot more common than people think — and the officers did everything right.
“Secure and then de-escalate,” said Thomas. “But I think it’s important to know that these situations can be just as dramatic for the individuals involved just as much as they can be for the first responders, as well.”
The officers’ actions that day are a powerful reminder of the courage and compassion their job demands.
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