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Dramatic bodycam video shows the moment New York City police officers rescued a woman perched atop the steel cables of the Brooklyn Bridge above the East River on Wednesday.
The NYPD said its Emergency Service Unit responded to the bridge around 7:38 p.m. to reports of a person in distress.
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Newly released video shows officers climbing the bridge to reach the woman, whose feet dangled over the edge of one of the bridge’s steel cables.
“I just wanna talk,” one officer tells the woman. “What’s happening today?”
The officer continued speaking with the woman, urging her to accept help.
“I wanna help you, that’s why I’m up here right now,” the officer said. “I genuinely care, I do. It’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It really is. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I want to understand. We have services we can get you to.
“The strongest thing you can do right now is accept help, I promise you,” he continued. “That’s the strongest thing you can do.”
As the woman stood on the cable while holding onto another support cable with one arm, an officer moved close enough to wrap his arms around her and pull her to safety.
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“Don’t do it. Don’t do it, please. Please, please,” the officer said. “I got you. You’re OK, I promise. I got you, I promise. Everything’s gonna be OK. You’re not in trouble.”
Police said officers spent nearly an hour talking with the woman before safely bringing her down the bridge.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch shared the bodycam video on social media and praised the responding officers.
“This video of a rescue last night on the Brooklyn Bridge will take your breath away,” Tisch wrote.
“High above the East River, NYPD ESU officers climbed onto the Brooklyn Bridge to reach a woman in crisis who was threatening to jump,” she continued. “For nearly an hour, they stayed with her, spoke with her, and waited for the moment they could safely pull her back from the edge. The care, courage, and compassion these officers showed was just extraordinary. May God bless them.”
Officials said the rescue unfolded during rush hour and forced the closure of all eastbound lanes on the bridge for several hours.