Page 55 - December 2020

Officers in 8th District prevent tragedy to earn CPMF award
n BY DAN CAMPANA
When the woman standing precariously on a bridge rail some 40 feet over railroad tracks let go of a nearby light pole earlier this year, her intent became clear: She planned to jump.
But the woman’s life was saved, thanks to the quick actions of Officers Lisbeth Zamora-Mitre, Adan Barazza, Hector Briseno and Jonathon Garduno. For their collective efforts, the quartet received the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation’s Officers of the Month Award for November.
The incident played out near 74th and Kedzie Avenue when the 8th District officers saw the woman on the wrong side of the protective railing on the bridge. She looked distraught and had what was described as long, bloody slash marks on her arms.
The officers used de-escalation strategies and their crisis in- tervention training to talk with the woman. When she released her grip of the light pole she was holding on to, Mitre and Barazza immediately grabbed the woman’s arms to ensure she wouldn’t be able to leap from the bridge. The officers disregard- ed their own safety to get a hold of the woman.
“I didn’t even think twice,” Mitre said.
Briseno and Garduno helped their fellow officers bring the woman to the safety of the sidewalk, where Briseno prevent- ed any additional injuries when he recovered a razor blade the woman had been holding in her hand. Medics took the woman to the hospital for medical and mental health treatment.
As Mitre and Barazza built trust and rapport with the woman, she confided to them that her boyfriend had sexually assaulted
her. That revelation prompted the officers to request that a sex- ual-assault kit be completed to gather evidence for an investi- gation.
At the November ceremony, CPMF Executive Director Phil Cline commended the officers for helping the woman by thwarting her suicide attempt, as well as uncovering a violent crime. Their actions reflected the commitment of Chicago Po- lice Officers to serving the city’s citizens, he said.
“We are proud to honor these officers as they risked their personal safety to carry out the noblest act of saving a human life,” Cline said during the event, which was held at 8th District headquarters.
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