HomeMy WebLinkAboutPolice Commendations
City of Edina 4801 W. 50th St. Edina, MN 55424
Contact: Debbie Townsend, Communications Assistant
Phone 952-826-0396 dtownsend@EdinaMN.gov EdinaMN.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Police Officers Honored For Saving Suicidal Teen
Edina, Minn., December 16, 2016 – Two Edina Police Officers and a Police Detective have been
awarded Departmental Commendations for their work to prevent a suicidal teen from jumping off a bridge
above Minnesota Highway 100.
On Oct. 18, Edina Police Department Officer Morgan Piper was on patrol and responded to a call of a 15-
year-old boy threatening to jump off the 77th Street Bridge above the highway. The teen was standing atop a
sign outside the guardrail, one step from what would most likely be a fatal fall.
Piper, a member of the Police Department’s Crisis Negotiation Team, asked for Officer Eric Carlson to
respond because she knew he had previously worked with the teen, who has special needs. Another crisis
negotiator, Detective Kenna Dick, also responded. Working together, the three talked to the boy for almost
an hour. Carlson was successful in building rapport with the teen, in part by incorporating intelligence from
their previous interactions. Ultimately, it was an offer of ice cream from a nearby Dairy Queen that began to
de-escalate the situation. The teen, however, still wouldn’t come off the platform.
The officers and detective then successfully convinced the boy that if he came down, Carlson would join him
in an ice-cream eating contest. Carlson made good on his promise, eating ice cream with the boy before
paramedics took the teen, accompanied by his mother, for a mental health evaluation.
Police Chief Dave Nelson credited Carlson for building rapport with the teen in a tense time. “His thoughtful
offer of sitting down to eat ice cream was the solution to the crisis and resulted in saving the life of a 15-year-
old boy,” Nelson said in awarding the commendation.
The Oct. 18 incident was the third time this year that Piper and Dick negotiated with suicidal people
threatening to jump from bridges in Edina and St. Louis Park. Nelson credited their experience and quick
response for saving the life of this teen and the other two people who were in crisis.
For more information, contact Nelson at 952-826-1610 or dnelson@EdinaMN.gov.
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