Three officers honored for effectively negotiating surrender
of man threatening to jump off building

April 30, 2010

On Friday, Mayor Richard J. Berry honored three Albuquerque Police Department tactical team officers for their efforts which resulted in the successful rescue of a man threatening suicide.

K-9 Officer Russ Carter, Crisis Negotiator Officer Mizell Garcia and SWAT Officer Jim Perdue are this week’s Friday’s Heroes. Each week, Mayor Berry or Public Safety Director Darren White recognizes at least one public safety employee who goes above the call of duty.

The incident for which the officers are being honored occurred earlier this month when units were dispatched to a call involving a male subject who had gained access to a county building at 401 Roma NW and made his way up to the top of the building. He set off alarms along the way and AFD and police personnel responded to the scene. Once officers arrived and entered the building, the male subject ran away from them and onto the roof top at which time he climbed over the wall and positioned himself on a very narrow triangular ledge. The subject then threatened to jump if further confronted by emergency personnel.

Officer Carter had been responding to another call when he heard the radio transmission about the suicidal male at the downtown building and made his way to the area to assist. He attempted to communicate with the subject but soon realized that there was a language barrier and the suicidal man only spoke Spanish. Officer Mizell Garcia was requested to help facilitate communication and the SWAT and K-9 teams were called to the scene as well. Tactical personnel secured a perimeter and developed a plan to deal with the unique problem which they had rarely if ever encountered in downtown Albuquerque. SWAT Officer Perdue set up a repel system, getting harnesses and ropes in place for law enforcement personnel should they be needed for a quick rescue.

Thanks to the efforts of Officer Carter and Officer Garcia, communication was established with the distraught subject and they began crisis negotiations to try to affect his surrender. Negotiations with the subject were ongoing for the next 10 hours, during which on multiple occasions the subject motioned and threatened to jump to his death. He stated several times that he wanted the SWAT officers to shoot him. Despite the long hours and grueling nature of the situation, the officers persevered and the skilled tactics utilized by the unit personnel paid off. The subject finally surrendered to law enforcement unharmed. The officers on scene then ensured that the man received the immediate medical and psychological care that he needed.

“The skilled negotiators and tactical team members in this case endured long hours and cold weather conditions in order to see this subject to safety. They never lost sight of their goal to prevent this man from doing himself harm. They are to be commended for their life saving efforts on behalf of a citizen desperately in need of help. For this, they are heroes,” stated Mayor Berry.