On May 10th, 2020 at approximately 10:48 PM, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to the report of a possible suicidal person standing on the ledge of the Depoe Bay Bridge. Deputies Jason Spano and Garrett Brawdy arrived within minutes of the call and found a young adult male standing on the West side concrete railing of the bridge. Deputies immediately began a dialogue with the subject while Depoe Bay Fire and United States Coast Guard Station Depoe Bay were put on standby.
Troopers with the Oregon State Police and responding deputies shut down traffic on highway 101 at both ends of the bridge. After approximately 11 minutes the male subject agreed to step down off the railing and continue a conversation with deputies. At approximately 11:14 PM the male agreed to be taken to the North Lincoln Hospital by Deputies Spano and Brawdy for further evaluation. The male was transported without further incident.
Deputy Jason Spano has served in Law Enforcement for 21 years, he has been with LCSO for three years. Deputy Garrett Brawdy has been with LCSO for six years as a corrections deputy, he recently transferred to the patrol division. Both deputies are specifically trained as Crisis Negotiators with the Lincoln County Crisis Negotiations Team. To achieve credentials in Crisis Negotiation a deputy must attend 40 hours of specialized training in negotiations. In addition to negotiations training both deputies have had an additional 40 hours of Crisis Intervention Training (CIT).
CIT is specialized training in recognizing and understanding how to deal with citizens going through a mental health crisis. In 2017 Sheriff Curtis Landers determined CIT to be so important he made it mandatory for all certified personnel with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office to attend knowing the training would benefit the citizens we serve. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office would like the public to know the Crisis and Information Hotline can be called 24 hours a day at 1-866-266-0288 if they need help or know of someone in crisis.