Law enforcement officers will make every possible effort to stop a person who is trying to take his or her life, but according to a Maryland State Police barrack commander, people must take steps long before someone attempts to commit suicide.
Lt. Tim Mullin, commander of the JFK Highway Barrack in Perryville, spoke to The Record Tuesday after a man jumped to his death Sunday from the I-95 Milliard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge over the Susquehanna River between Harford and Cecil counties.
Police and medical authorities haven't identified the victim, whose plunge from the 90-foot high bridge occurred less than seven months after a trooper in Mullin's command prevented a man from jumping from the Tydings in August by tackling him as he tried to climb over the bridge's side barrier.
Troopers assigned to the JFK Barrack patrol the bridge and the rest of I-95 between Baltimore and the Delaware line.
Mullin stressed suicide is a "mental health issue," and family and community members must intervene before a loved one even considers the act. He said police officers can also step in and take a suicidal person to a hospital for the appropriate treatment.
"It's not just law enforcement," Mullin said. "It's people around them, it's family being aware of this, [to] stop them well before they have a thought in their mind, before they attempt suicide."
The barrack commander noted there are technological and engineering aids on the Tydings Bridge that hamper a person from trying get to the elevated underside of the bridge and that also give troopers the opportunity to respond when a vehicle is pulled over on the structure.
Trooper First Class Joshua Kim was driving north on the bridge toward the barrack during the evening of Aug. 9, 2014, when he saw a man walking across the span in the opposite direction.
Kim said later that he spotted the man's car 50 to 75 yards away on the shoulder, realized something was wrong and turned around as soon as he could.
Kim pulled up, rushed out of his cruiser and tackled the man as he tried to climb over the 3-foot-high barrier.
State Police officials have said Kim's safety was also at risk. The man was large enough to pull both of them over had Kim not grabbed him by the lower half of his body, similar to a football tackle or wrestling takedown.
State Police later released a video of Kim's encounter on the bridge that was taken by the camera mounted on the trooper's police cruiser.
The trooper was honored for his actions in March with the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's Officer of the Month Award.
"Unfortunately, their condition, their mental health is to a point to where they are determined," Mullin said of people attempting suicide.
He said there is little a trooper can do in that situation "unless you are right there."
While the State Police patrol the Tydings Bridge, the Maryland Transportation Authority, or MdTA, operates the bridge and associated toll facilities, including the Tydings sister span across the Susquehanna River, the Route 40 Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge. The transportation authority's police department patrols the Hatem between Havre de Grace and Perryville.
Lt. Kevin Ayd, spokesperson for the MdTA Police, said his agency does not discuss suicides, as police want to prevent people from taking their own lives.
"It's a tragic situation for a lot of parties involved," he said.
Ayd said officers typically intervene in situations where people are trying to commit suicide "and get any help that the person may need."
"As police, we try to step in and prevent it from happening," he said.
Cheryl Sparks, the MdTA's communications director, said transportation officials "don't publicly talk about our suicide deterrent methods."
"There are no plans to make any structural changes to any of our facilities," she said.
Mullin said gates are in place to keep people off the elevated underside of the Tydings Bridge, and troopers in the barrack can view a feed from MdTA cameras on the bridge that can alert them to any emergency situations.
The JFK Barrack is about a mile from the bridge, and a trooper on duty at the barrack or on patrol can respond quickly, he said.
Motorists who see an emergency are also encouraged to call 911 and say where they are on the highway, and they will be connected to a State Police trooper or dispatcher, Mullin said.
"Anything that happens on this interstate, we're getting calls about it, and that's a good thing," he said.
The lower Susquehanna River area also has two railroad bridges, one owned by CSX, which is between the Tydings and Hatem bridges, and the other owned by Amtrak, which is just south of the Hatem. The two bridges can be accessed on foot from either shore, even though railroad property is private.
Anyone considering hurting himself or herself should call 911 or go to their local hospital emergency room, according to Harford County mental health officials.
Harford residents can also contact the Mobile Crisis Program, headquartered in Bel Air, at 410-638-5248 for help resolving a crisis or emergency mental health treatment, according to a county government web page on the program.