Three Sarasota police officers successfully prevented a man from taking his own life after he attempted to jump from the sixth floor of a downtown parking garage last Friday. Officers Michal Banasiak, Orlando Perez and Kassidee Plumley responded to what initially came in as a report of a suspicious person in the parking garage.
“We respond to calls like that on a daily basis. I’m not even saying weekly. The issue is so big,” said Sarasota Police Officer Michal Banasiak. When Banasiak arrived at the scene, he found the man trying to jump from the sixth floor and asked him not to jump, but the man gestured for Banasiak not to get closer. Banasiak said his 40 hours of crisis intervention training, completed when he joined Sarasota PD two years ago, immediately kicked in during the life-threatening situation.
“When it was happening, I was extremely calm because immediately the training kicked in. Immediately,” Banasiak said. The officer explained that crisis intervention training teaches officers to take a different approach in suicide situations. “We were told just be yourself in those situations. That person already made a decision to end their life. In many cases, many situations, we are being told - mandated - to be in charge of the situation that we are in,” Banasiak said. “In that situation, we have to completely stop and just listen to that person. Now, in that situation, they are in charge.”
While Banasiak worked to develop a rapport with the man, Officers Orlando Perez and Kassidee Plumley arrived as backup. Perez said officers constantly train for these situations and discuss them regularly in briefings to ensure coordinated responses. “That way, we’re all on the same page when we’re responding. So, there is no need to tell the next officer, ‘Hey, I need you to do this or that.’ We all know kind of what to do already,” said Perez.
Technology played a crucial role in the successful rescue, with Banasiak’s supervisors logging into his body camera to monitor the situation without requiring radio updates that could have disrupted his conversation with the man. Body camera video provided by Sarasota PD shows Banasiak was able to get close enough to the man at one point to pull him off the ledge. “Myself and Officer Plumley went in right away just to go back him up, make sure that we secure that person so he doesn’t stand up again and try to make another attempt for it,” Perez said.
The incident highlighted the frequency and severity of mental health crises in the community, with Banasiak noting that just days before this call, the department dealt with similar situations that didn’t have positive outcomes. “Going to work, I already learned there was a person that committed a suicide, and at that same shift that day, we had another person that committed suicide, and I was the first person on the scene - someone who actually jumped out of a building. Then, three days later, I’m encountering that situation,” he said. “I looked through the window that he was sitting on. I was like, ‘Oh, my God. This was a life and death situation,’” said Banasiak.
Clara Reynolds, president and CEO of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, said the challenge extends beyond Sarasota to law enforcement agencies throughout the region. “As high as 60% of 911 calls that law enforcement receives has some sort of behavioral health underlying component,” Reynolds said. She emphasized the importance of proper training for officers handling these calls and noted that the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay has partnered with Tampa Police on an initiative placing center staff alongside dispatchers.
The Tampa Bay partnership has shown significant results, with more than 1,000 cases in the past 18 months where officers didn’t have to respond to behavioral health calls because the Crisis Center handled them directly. In cases where officers did respond, Reynolds said the situation was de-escalated to the point where the person in need could communicate effectively with the officer. She encouraged people to familiarize themselves with available resources before a crisis occurs, noting that many individuals avoid seeking help because they believe their issues are their fault or fear they won’t be believed.
“Many individuals feel like they are so very isolated, they can’t see a way out, and so they don’t even think about reaching out and asking for help,” Reynolds said. Both Banasiak and Perez emphasized that help is available for anyone struggling with mental health issues. “You’re not alone. There’s a lot of people that are struggling, there’s a lot of help we can offer,” said Banasiak. “The resources are there,” said Perez. “What I believe is that lack of knowledge of what those resources are is what people don’t get.”
Resources available to those in crisis include the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay at 211, the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, and Cornerstone Crisis Services at (941) 782-4617. The Sarasota Police Department continues to respond to mental health crisis calls daily while working to ensure officers receive adequate training to handle these life-or-death situations.