CSPD negotiators sometimes sent to suicide attempts

Police had to shut down interstate 25 Saturday morning because of a man attempting to jump from the Bijou Bridge over I-25.

The man stood on the outside rail of the bridge upset because he lost his wallet. Eventually, he let the fire department strap him to the guard rail and help him down a ladder. But it doesn’t always happen this way. Many times negotiators are called in.

“We’re trying to just calm down the situation,” CSPD Sergeant Mike Lux said. “That’s the negotiator’s primary duty, is to make contact with the person, calm the person down and find out exactly what the issue is.”

Becoming a negotiator is voluntary. Officers must then be selected, go to FBI negotiation school, and get trained. Once they’re out on call, there are a number of things they must find out.

“How quickly do we think this is actually going to erupt, if it is. How serious is the person, and then again a number of other things like does the person have a weapon, is there any intel information there that we could pass along,” Sgt. Lux said.

They must also try to get the person to give up on hurting others and themselves.

“If we show that there’s other things that could be going on here and that there’s a long term part of their life that they might be missing if they do what they’re going to do, and convince them of that, it seems like it always turns out well,” Sgt. Lux said.