The Commissioner of Police Richard Ullger has presented Commendations to four officers who successfully handled situations in which people were trying to end their lives.

The first incident occurred during Christmas week of 2021, when officers were called to a property in Engineers’ Lane. On arrival, the officers were told that a UK national had assaulted one of his friends which was an act of aggression that seemed completely out of character.  The other friends explained the man had already left the flat but they were very concerned about his mental state.

PC Casey Azopardi-Francis stayed with the friends to gain additional information while Acting Sergeant James Quigley went outside to look for him.

Within 10 minutes, Sgt Quigley had found the man who, by then, was on the unlit roof terrace with his legs over the edge, and they began a conversation. The police officer carefully ensured that parts of the conversation could be heard on the police radio.  On hearing this, PC Azopardi-Francis sent for a trained negotiator before going up to join Sgt Quigley who, by this time had established a good rapport with the man. After about 20 minutes, the man was persuaded to move away from the edge and to receive medical help.

Sgt Quigley said: “I listened to the man as he told me about all the difficult issues in his life and I followed the plan that I’d been trained to follow. I’m pleased to say that it proved to be effective.”

As the man was being taken to St Bernard’s Hospital, he told the officers that he had been considering suicide for several months and had been wondering exactly how to end his life.

The second incident for which officers were commended took place in the early hours of Saturday 6 August 2022, when two RGP officers were patrolling in Casemates and they noticed, high on the Northern Defences, the light from a mobile phone.  Almost at the same moment, they heard on their police radios that a man was in the area of the Jungle and threatening to commit suicide by jumping off a location which had a 30 metre drop.

Acting Sergeant Chris Catania and PC Darrell Oliveira immediately made their way up to the ledge on which the man was standing.  He was clearly drunk and, in the dark, they could see that he had an empty bottle of rum by his side. The officers called up for one of the RGP’s trained negotiators and for an ambulance to be on standby.

In Chris Catania’s words, “In my 11 years in the RGP, I’ve attended quite a few attempted suicides but on only two occasions was I totally convinced that the person intended to go through with it.  And this was one of those occasions.”

The two police officers relied on their training as they slowly approached the man in the pitch dark. They reduced the volume on their radios, explained that they would do all they could to help him and listened to him as he explained all the many problems in his life. “I then offered him a cigarette – but he didn’t smoke!”

By this stage, just as the man had one leg over the ledge, his phone rang. It was New Mole House wishing to pass on a message from his ex-partner. “He then leant forward to give me the phone as he wanted me to speak to them and, as he did so, PC Oliveira grabbed his arm and I was able to grab his head and drag him away from the edge.”

The officers handcuffed the man for a few minutes before they were able to walk him down into Casemates after which he was taken to St Bernard’s Hospital to be assessed by a mental health practitioner.

Commissioner of Police Richard Ullger said, “In recent months we have been dealing with fewer Attempted Suicides but, whilst fewer in number, these incidents have tended to be more serious. 

“Whilst we do have specially-trained negotiators, all of our officers are good at inter-personal communication. In fact, it’s an essential skill for a police officer.  However, on these two occasions, our people did exceptionally well and I was delighted to present them with their commendation certificates today.

“It is also worth pointing out that, whenever they deal with traumatic events such as these, our officers are debriefed and, if necessary, provided with advice and support from professional counsellors.”