Bodycam: Fla. Police Negotiator Saves Man from 6th-Floor Ledge
What to know
- Miami Beach police officers successfully talked a man down from a sixth-floor hotel ledge early Monday after responding to reports of a suicide threat.
- The man, who was experiencing a mental health crisis, spent several hours walking along the ledge as police brought in a trained negotiator to de-escalate the situation.
- After extended negotiations and the discovery of suicide notes in his hotel room, the man was safely escorted off the ledge and transported to a hospital for treatment.
Miami Beach police officers worked for several hours to talk down a man threatening to jump from a hotel ledge early Monday.
The rescue, which was caught on officer's body camera, happened just before 3 a.m. when police responded to reports of a man saying he was going to jump from the sixth floor of the Citizen Hotel, WPLG-TV reports. The man, who was suffering a mental health crisis, was walking back and forth along the hotel's ledge when officers arrived.
A police negotiator was brought in to talk with the man trying to safely bring him back from the ledge.
"The lead hostage negotiator (at the scene) actually has PhD," Officer Christopher Bess, the department's public information officer, told reporters. "He's not only trained on the job, but academically, to de-escalate situations, connect with people who may be in crisis and do what he did in this event, and that's save a life."
Investigators had discovered suicide notes in his hotel room. After hours of talking with negotiator, the man was finally walked off the ledge and taken to the hospital for treatment.