Calls publicized to start suicide dialogue

East Greenbush police release details of nine recent distress cases

Town police said they handled several mental health emergency calls in recent days, and that all nine residents were safely admitted to area hospitals for treatment.

A year ago, Chief Christopher Lavin started periodically releasing basic information about suicidal residents and how police respond to their needs, most often de-escalating the situation and getting them treatment. The recent list East Greenbush police released is similar to the information they have provided to the public in the past.

Lavin said in a March 2018 interview with the Times Union that he doesn’t think it should take a tragedy to coax his community into talking about suicide. The sheer number of self-harm cases police respond to every day should be enough, he said.

“It’s important to know these events are going on,” Lavin said. He said they don’t always result in horrific tragedies, “but they often become smaller emergencies that affect the person, their family and the community.”

His continued approach is a stark departure from how most law enforcement agencies deal with such cases. Typically, police only talk about a self-inflicted injury or suicide when it happens in public, puts someone else at risk, or involves a public figure.

“In most communities there has to be a problem for any action to happen,” Lavin said. He wants the conversation to start earlier — even if people are resistant.

“Some people ask, ‘How could you talk about that? How could you let the community know someone on their street tries to hang themselves or overdosed?’” Lavin said.

His answer: “It’s not only lawful but it’s beneficial for the larger community to know.”

These are the latest cases:

■ A 60-year-old town man contacted his health care provider saying he was fighting depression and that he kept dwelling on ways to kill himself. Sgt. Ernest Tubbs made contact, taking the man into protective custody.

■ A mother called 911 when her 17-year-old daughter complained of weakness and depression and couldn’t get out of bed. Officer Marie Abraham responded, and the girl eventually said she had taken a bottle of an unidentified medication. She was taken to Samaritan Hospital in protective custody.

■ Parents called 911 after their 19-year-old daughter became enraged over an issue and grabbed a knife intending to cut herself. Officer Griffin Hotaling took her into protective custody.

■ Rensselaer County Crisis Line counselors received a text message from an unknown girl who said she wanted to kill herself. Sheriff’s officials traced the phone number to a Troy address, responded there and found the cellphone’s owner, a 16-year-old, was not home but staying at an East Greenbush home. Officer Edward Ashley located the girl who thought that suicide by taking pills would solve her problems. She was taken into protective custody.

■ A town man, 73, told a health care provider he was tired of being a burden on his family and would just like to find a way to kill himself. Officer Max Scheibly took the man into protective custody.

■ A man called police out of concern for his son, 27, who had been up all night yelling and screaming in his bedroom. Officer Ashley found the troubled man still in his bedroom. He told the officer that he was on the phone all night with a girl who he has known for five years but has never met. He said she drives him to do self-destructive acts. He was taken into protective custody.

■ A woman called police to report that her 19-year-old son was upset and had just run out of the house saying that he was going to kill himself. Officer Max Scheibly located the man in a nearby parking lot, where he told the officer that he wanted to impale himself with a knife. He was taken into protective custody.

■ A town man, 25, under the outpatient care of Albany County Mental Health Services, made frightening statements to members of the health care staff and said he had no intention of returning for treatment. He was taken into protective custody by Officer Trevor Lagrave on a physician’s order for a mental health evaluation.

■ A man called 911 after his 19-year-old daughter began saying that life was not worth living. Officer Anthony Gullo talked with her, and she described how she has been thinking of stabbing herself with scissors. She was taken into protective custody.

While in protective custody, all people receive services at

Samaritan Hospital’s regional mental health reception center for evaluation, counseling and family assistance on a case-by-case basis, police said.