The Roof, the Voices, and the Sudden Calm
At 1540 hours you respond to a report of a woman on the roof of a two-story house. She is 29, barefoot, and diagnosed with schizophrenia; her mother says she stopped taking olanzapine 9 days ago, has slept perhaps 6 hours since, and has been drinking energy drinks all day. The woman is standing about 3 feet from the edge of the roof, sweating heavily in 88-degree heat, screaming that the 'signals' tell her to jump so they will stop. She has no weapon and does not appear to know anyone is on the ground until you call up to her. She has stepped closer to the edge twice when officers moved toward the extension ladder. Fire and EMS are staged. Twenty-five minutes of talking have produced no movement.
1. Do you have authority to take her into custody, and if so, on what basis? How does that change your approach?
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Yes - as protective custody for emergency evaluation, not as an arrest. Connecticut law allows an officer who reasonably believes a person has a psychiatric disability and is dangerous to herself or others to take her into custody and transport her for examination by a physician. You are building a record, not a case:
- The mother's account: diagnosis, 9 days off medication, days without sleep.
- Her stated intent and the 'signals' command.
- The behavior: proximity to the edge, two approaches, inability to be redirected, heavy sweating in heat.
- Time, place, and witnesses.
What changes: the objective is a safe transfer to a hospital, so nothing you do should be aimed at 'winning' or at a criminal charge. No handcuffing behind the back on a roof, no sudden grab with two officers unless the fall risk demands it, and no threats of jail. Expect an emergency-room handoff and a written statement from you describing dangerousness, because the physician's hold depends on your documentation.
2. She sits down on the roof and dangles her legs over the gutter. The incident commander asks whether officers should grab her now. Analyze.
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Weigh the rescue against the risk you create.
- Grabbing now: two officers on an angled roof, one unpredictable person, a 20-foot drop. If she twists, the grab becomes the fall. A failed grab is worse than no grab.
- Grabbing at the moment of commitment: if she pushes off or stands and leans out, physical seizure to prevent the fall is reasonable and proportional - it is a rescue, not force against an aggressor, and deadly force concepts do not apply.
- Pre-plan first: fire ladder position, a ground cushion or net if available, spotters under the edge, and a designated officer whose only job is the grab. Confirm who goes and on what cue before anyone moves.
Communication continues throughout: short sentences, her name, no arguing with the delusion, and honest choices - 'Come down the ladder with me and we'll get you cooled off and see a doctor.' Do not promise she will not go to the hospital; a broken promise ends the negotiation.
3. Twenty minutes later she climbs down and, as officers take her arms, she fights hard. After about 90 seconds of struggling she goes quiet, limp, and stops resisting. What do you do?
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Treat the sudden calm as a medical emergency, not compliance.
- Reposition immediately: off her stomach, onto her side in the recovery position, no weight on her back, neck, or chest, and no hobble or hog-tie configuration.
- Airway and breathing: listen for snoring, gurgling, or silence; check for a pulse; oxygen on; EMS to the scene now, not to the station.
- Record the clock: how long she struggled, in what positions, when she went quiet, and when you repositioned - this is the difference between a defensible report and an indefensible one.
- Naloxone only if the picture fits opioids (pinpoint pupils, slow shallow breathing, track marks); her history points to exertion, heat, sleep deprivation, and restraint, not overdose, and a needle in the wrong presentation wastes time.
- Do not stop monitoring during transport, and put her in a seated or lateral position in the cruiser with a seatbelt and a second officer watching her breathing.