‘Cop of the Month’ awards for heroic 84th Precinct police officers

Saved suicidal woman in freezing East River

March 22, 2024 Mary Frost

Shown from left: 84th Precinct Commanding Officer Captain Thomas Maffei, P.O. Joseph Vazquez, P.O. Austin Murrell, and Mark Gelbs, president of the 84th Precinct Community Council. Eagle photo by Mary Frost

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — Two good-guy Brooklyn cops received the 84th Precinct Community Council’s February 2024 Cop of the Month award after saving the life of a suicidal woman who jumped off Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1 into the East River on Sunday, Feb. 4.

After getting the mid-afternoon 911 call about an emotionally disturbed person, officer Joseph Vazquez and officer Austin Murrell walked the waterfront and found the woman floating within the old Pier 1 pilings, next to the park’s cordgrass salt marsh.

The officers found her “floating on her back, with just her face exposed. What they call a dead man’s float,” Captain Thomas Maffei, commanding officer of the 84th Precinct, told the crowd at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Tuesday, March 19 for the monthly meeting of the Community Council.

“I’m telling you, it was cold in that water,” Maffei said. Maritime websites put the temperature of the East River at 39 degrees Fahrenheit at that time.

An orange flotation vest marks the spot where police rescued a woman who jumped into the East River in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Feb. 4. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Heights resident Jennifer (she requested her last name not be used).

“Without hesitation, they grabbed a floatation device and, working in concert, went into the water. Luckily, the aided had floated toward land after jumping off the pier,” he said. “If she had floated the other way, they might not have been able to get to her.”

Climbing down the jagged rocks, police entered the water, grabbed the woman by the arms, and pulled her out. “At that point, she started having another emotional episode,” Maffei said.

EMS transported the woman to Woodhull Hospital. “I don’t know how much longer she would have lasted in that water. So really good job, water rescue,” Maffei said as the crowd burst into applause.

One of the audience members later stood during the event’s question and answer period and commented, “I just want to say how much I appreciate the job the police are doing. They don’t get enough applause for the good things they do,” setting off another round of applause for the officers.

If you are feeling suicidal, help is available at 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call or text 988 to be connected with a trained crisis counselor.