One Tuesday afternoon, police officer Joel Caldwell got an emergency call about a 14-year-old girl in crisis. When they arrived at the scene, the girl was standing at the edge of the roof of a three-story residence and she was ready to jump off and kill herself. The clock was ticking fast and the police needed to do something and make sure she wouldn’t go through with her plan.
Officer Caldwell and the rest of the department’s crisis team immediately climbed into the house up into the third-floor window and started talking to her. They first established a relationship with her and for hours, they made sure to keep her talking and less focused with jumping off. After some time, they learned that the girl really loved dogs. Luckily, they had one with them.
And so, Officer Caldwell brought in their six-month-old Golden doodle therapy puppy named Charlie. The pup Charlie was the newest addition to the Albany Police Department’s Therapy Dog Program. The program which was launched a few years back was in assistance MVP Healthcare as part of the department’s goal of improving the health and wellness of employees.
It was also for the goal of bettering police-community relations, especially in situations just like this one.
As soon as the girl saw Charlie, she slowly started to walk from the edge of the roof into the window to meet the adorable puppy. The team assisted her so that she could walk back safely. Once she was in, they let her have some time with Charlie to comfort her and calm her down. The police then turned her over to medical professionals for evaluation.
As of now, the girl is recovering and is getting all the help that she needs. Thanks to Charlie, a dangerous crisis has been averted.
Source: News 10