Trending Topics

Video: Cop prevents suicide days after crisis intervention training

The officer reassured the man that he wasn’t going to go to jail, and that the officers were trying to help him

By Sarah J. Pawlowski
Daily Press

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The man was lying on the sidewalk when officers arrived, an 8-inch butcher knife firmly pressed against his stomach. He was crying. He said he didn’t deserve to live.

The incident happened at about 9 p.m. Dec. 9 alongside Jefferson Avenue near Oyster Point Road in Newport News.

Body-mounted cameras on officers recorded as Newport News police officer Andrew Gohn knelt to the ground. He asked the man about his problems and encouraged him to talk about his kids.

The incident happened just a week after Gohn had completed an advanced crisis intervention training course.

“This was my first actual time to put what I learned into effect,” Gohn told reporters at Newport News Police Department Headquarters Friday. He said he remembers thinking, “I need to go back to my training and say the right things.”

Every Newport News police officer receives basic crisis training, but just 72 of the department’s nearly 440 officers have completed the more advanced course, according to police department spokesman Lou Thurston.

The difference between the basic and advanced training is “significant,” according to Dean Barker, forensic services manager at the Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board, which coordinates the training.

Officers in the program complete 40 hours of mental health training compared to just 4 to 8 hours in the police academy, according to Barker. Advanced students learn about topics, such as suicide, substance abuse and psychiatric drugs. They also participate in role playing exercises.

Gohn said the training prepared him to know how to talk to the man. He said he acknowledged the man’s feelings and asked open-ended questions. He reassured the man that he wasn’t going to go to jail, and that the officers were trying to help him.

Gohn said he had no idea his efforts were being recorded.

“I actually didn’t hear that there was a video until several days later,” he said.

The Newport News Police Department started using body-mounted cameras in January 2013. The Newport News Police Department Foundation spent $25,000 on first 30 cameras. The department has since purchased 100 more, according to Thurston.

Gohn said he supports the use of cameras because they show the entire story.

The incident lasted about 10 minutes, but Gohn said to him it felt like 30 to 45 seconds.

“By the time I knew it, he was throwing the knife,” he said.

Gohn said the incident was somewhat personal to him. A former member of the U.S. Army, he decided to complete the advanced course because he witnessed the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. A relative also committed suicide when he was a teen, he said.

He said he hopes people considering suicide will recognize it’s not a solution.

“The big things that are problems right now are little things in the long run,” he said.

“You don’t get rid of your problems; you just give them to somebody else.”

Copyright 2014 the Daily Press

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU