Recipients of the 1st Annual CIT Award and Their Heroic Stories

1st Annual CIT Award and The Recipients Heroic Stories

Officer JoAnn Walker

On March 19, 2015, Officer Walker responded to Larkin St. and O’Farrell Street regarding a fight between two women. Based on her prior training, Officer Walker suspected this person suffered from a mental illness/and or a post-traumatic stress disorder and that she may be off her medication. Officer Walker took the extra step in her duties and followed the ambulance to the medical facility for treatment. Knowing that leaving this woman without medical support or the support of her family could lead this individual to being exposed to additional physical or mental trauma, Officer Walker contacted the woman’s daughter and waited for her to arrive at the hospital to be with her mother. After the woman’s daughter arrived, Officer Walker assisted in making arrangements for the woman to meet with her personal physician where she was more comfortable and free from stress and anxiety. Officer Walker used her CIT training skills and helped assist the individual not only through her medical trauma but the crisis situation which followed.

Officer Jennifer Foxworth

Officer Foxworth was dispatched to a call on the 17th Floor of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Dispatch told responding officers that a man was on that floor and he wanted to jump. Officer Foxworth spoke to the man, building rapport with him and quickly learning that the man was a military war veteran who was experiencing intense flashbacks. The man told Officer Foxworth that he wanted to jump from the ledge because he could not handle the flashbacks any longer. Officer Foxworth kneeled down to eye level with the man and told him although she could not understand what his flashbacks felt like, she knew the moment he stepped off the ledge he would regret it. After conversing further, the man decided to go back inside with Officer Foxworth. The man was taken to the hospital for treatment without further incident.

Officer Mari Noguchi

A few years ago, Officer Noguchi and her partner were working swing watch when an A priority call came up in her sector for a suicidal person. Officer Noguchi quickly located the subject in his room, which was covered in the man’s blood as he had cut his wrists. Officer Noguchi recalled the man was speaking incoherently and the man was in need of help. By explaining to the man that she was there to help him, he eventually agreed to be transported to the hospital for treatment. While not sacrificing her officer safety, she exercised patience and compassion, and connected this individual to the care he needed. Because of the department’s CIT training, Officer Noguchi was able to successfully get this man the help he needed in a delicate situation where weapons were present.

Officer John Cathey

On January 3, 2015, Officer Cathey, who manages the Twitter account “@SFPDCares” sent out the following Tweet: “Bullying kids can have tragic results; if you see someone doing it or experiencing it, speak up, intervening early could save a life.”

Almost immediately he received a message from the mother of a child who had attempted suicide. Officer Cathey connected with her and found out bullying may have been one of the contributing factors in her son’s decision to end his life at the young age of 17. Officer Cathey began looking for resources to help the son and placed them in touch with a local religious leader and used SFPD’S Behavioral Science Unit to find other professional resources. Officer Cathey also offered the son a chance to tour the Police Academy and interact with active police officers. The son also watched the Officers conducting EVOC pursuit simulation training, had the opportunity to try the use of force simulator, and tour a police car. Officer Adam Etia, who has a martial arts background, spent time talking about the benefits of self-defense classes as Officer Brian Lujan shared his own stories of being bullied and how martial arts helped him to learn to stand up for himself.

Due to Officer Cathey’s intervention, the son is happy and looks forward to meeting new friends in class, developing self-esteem, and learning how to defend himself.

Officer George Luedtke (No Photo)

On November 13, 2014, patrol officers responded to a person threatening suicide-by-cop. Officer Luedtke contacted the subject via telephone. Luedtke and the individual immediately shared a bond as both of them have served in the United States military. The subject immediately felt at east speaking with a fellow combat veteran. Officer Luedtke continued speaking with the subject and used empathy and de-escalation to distract him from any further thoughts of self-harm. The two veterans spoke about politics, law, and military history. Eventually Luedtke convinced the subject to surrender. The male was detained without further incident and a .357 handgun was recovered.

Team Award

On February 13, 2015, patrol officers responded to the report of a female breaking the front glass door of a residence. Upon arrival officers located the female on the front porch holding a large, sharp shard of glass to her throat in one hand and a broken glass candle holder in the other. Patrol advised the female was confused, hearing voices, and cowered in a corner of the porch. After repeated attempts to convince the female to lower the glass shards, patrol requested assistance from the Hostage Negotiation Team. HNT Members Long, Juarez, Covarrubias, and Alejandrino responded. As the negotiators, Sergeant Long and Officer Covarrubias utilized active listening, de-escalation, empathy, and trust building with the woman. Sergeant Juarez and Officer Alejandrino developed Intel on the subject and built a strategy, continuing to feed information regarding hooks and triggers to the negotiators. After two hours of face-to-face negotiations, HNT earned the trust of the female. The female voluntarily removed the glass shard from her neck, walked down a flight of stairs, and surrendered to HNT members. She was brought to a medical facility without further incident.