Five Geneva Police officers are being credited with saving a man who was threatening to take his life last Wednesday on the Union Pacific West line train trestle spanning the Fox River.
At around 8:00pm, officers were able to stop train traffic after making contact with a man standing on the bridge platform, nearly 100 feet above the river. Officers walked along the trestle to help deescalate the situation.
After more than 70 minutes of negotiations, during which time the man threatened to jump or use knives to harm himself, he willingly walked to the officers unharmed, and was taken to Northwestern Medicine’s Delnor Hospital in Geneva to receive the appropriate care.
The Geneva Police Department has recently made efforts to dedicate more resources toward mental health responses. Starting in 2020, the City partnered with the Association for Individual Development (AID) to provide a part-time, on-site social worker at the Geneva Police Department.
Geneva residents who would like to make an appointment with Allison Bader, the City’s contracted AID social worker, can call the AID Crisis Line at 630-966-9393, send her an email at abader@aidcares.org, or call the Geneva Police Department at 630-232-4736.
