Detroit Police Officers in tears after 12-hour negotiation with woman on ledge of high-rise

DETROIT (FOX 2) - If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The crisis center provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255. Or text to 741-741

CLICK HERE for the warning signs and risk factors of suicide. Call 1-800-273-TALK for free and confidential emotional support. 

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Members of the Detroit Police Department are reeling this week after they spent hours trying to help a woman at the top of a Detroit high rise who ultimately chose to end her life.

Wednesday started with a prayer circle for the young woman who was 20 stories up above Jefferson for 12 hours on Tuesday. She has a history of mental illness and police spent most of the day trying to help her before it ended in tragedy.

"My heart goes out to her mom. I talked to her last night, and she was very brave and very strong, but you can see she was broken and we grieved with her and we really wanted a better outcome - a different outcome to get this young lady the help she needed, but unfortunately it wasn’t so," Detroit Police Chief James White said.

White later returned to the building and found his officers in tears.

"When I went back and saw them many of them were in tears – most of them were in tears – and they felt it. These officers live this work. It was just a very sad situation and environment," he said.

So far this year, the department has responded to 1,195 calls of a suicide in progress. In the past week - that number has been 26.

"The numbers that we see in DPD are off the charts and I talked to my colleagues around the state, around the country, and they're seeing an uptick as well," White said.

In most cases, 911 is the first call in a mental health crisis. 

White, a licensed mental health professional himself, continues to expand the department's Critical Incident Team. They recently added 10 new officers to handle the influx of mental health calls. But the reality is - they are not mental health providers.

"Certainly we need more beds, more hospitals. I’m at a point where I’d like to see mental health urgent care on every corner where just like you can go to an urgent care facility for a broken arm or stitches, you should be able to go and get some mental health treatment when you feel you’re in a hopeless situation," White said.

To the first responders who spent 12 hours trying to save someone's life, there is peer support. But the chief says even their peer support needs mental health help too, as trauma builds every day.

"That armor that the officers carry on their personalities, it gets dinged up and you gotta get them the help they need," said White. "I could stand up and you gotta give him the help they need."

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If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The crisis center provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255. Or text to 741-741

CLICK HERE for the warning signs and risk factors of suicide. Call 1-800-273-TALK for free and confidential emotional support.