MARIETTA, Ga. — Two Marietta officers are being hailed as heroes for their people-first approach to policing when working to help a woman facing a mental health crisis while she considered jumping off a bridge over traffic.
The call came in early on Thursday, police said, stating that a woman was in mental distress and considering suicide while standing on the Delk Road bridge over Interstate 75. Officer Austin Martin was first on the scene of the crisis with Officer Joseph Sively.
Both officers are rookies and joined the force in January. Martin only started patrolling alone six weeks ago, according to the police department.
Sively explained that the woman connected with his partner, so he focused on calling for first responders as Martin cared for the distraught woman.
“Nothing that we were saying was really getting through to her," Martin said.
Martin said his training helped him because he knew how to keep an open mind and listen to her.
“You can’t approach a situation like that thinking that you know what you’re going to do. Those people are in mental anguish that we’ll never understand," said Martin.
Authorities shut down I-75 in the area and Delk Road to keep the streets clear from traffic as the officers worked to coerce the woman to safety.
The police department said Martin walked up to the woman while she was scaling the fence and calmly introduced himself.
"He stayed calm and spoke with her for almost a full hour, attempting to get her to climb back over the fence to safety," the department said in a news release.
Other agencies made it to the scene while Martin was speaking with the woman, which angered her. This left the inexperienced officer "in the center of a life and death crisis."
"She was straddling the fence," Sivley explained.
The woman started getting tired, shaky and looked like she was about to let go, which is when Martin "laced his fingers onto hers through the chain link fence." Along with the help of other officers, they were able to grab her clothes, "holding on for dear life."
“I just kept telling her that I want to listen and I’m here to talk. Just share what you’ve got with me," Martin said.
The woman eventually passed out and was taken off the bridge by first responders.
A ladder truck was used to lower the woman to safety, and she is now able to seek the help she needs, the department said.